It Came from Lucina's Head
Chapter 10: Robin Finds a Clue
It was around 11:00 when Lucina finally awoke from her heavy slumber. She hadn't been visited by any evil creatures since Ike and Falcon left her, but even if she did, she doubted she would have had the energy to deal with them. She was feeling better however, and took note of this when she realized that the sword wounds from before had nearly healed. It was miraculous how something so severe could be undone thanks to some antibiotics… and a little magic. Unfortunately, this boost in her spirit didn't make her feel better for casting her friends off so bluntly like she had done in the previous night. She planned on apologizing to her friends later, but at the same time hoped they were making some progress with their mission.
Dr. Mario had stopped by sometime before lunch to check on her condition. Other than her apparent hungriness, she was feeling like her regular self again. A lone Waddle Dee had wandered into the room with a plate of 2D hamburgers and hotdogs, which the girl accepted gratefully before the servant scurried back to work. After some discussion, the doctor concluded that she was fit to leave her hospital bed and rejoin her fellow Smashers with the daily tournament matches, but suggested staying one extra night "just in case."
He was still dumbfounded however, as to what incident caused her grievous wounds in the first place. She ended up lying to Dr. Mario, stating that it was the cause of some complex sword technique she was trying to practice in her room, hence why the Falchion was stained with so much of her blood. The explanation was believable and not unheard of at all. There was a time the doctor could recall when Link had nearly smashed a hole through the floor of his room when he was messing around with his Megaton Hammer. That incident however, was completely justifiable according to Link; none of the other Smashers really understood the reason why.
Eventually the doctor left Lucina to finish her lunch in peace, and surprisingly, she did not receive any other visits from Smashers until the afternoon. There were the typically concerned ones such as Marth, Luigi, Lucas, and Kirby, which Lucina had to reassure that everything was fine, giving the same excuse that she had given to Dr. Mario. Marth in particular was adamant that there was something she wasn't telling him, but as much as she hated deceiving the Hero-King, she just couldn't bring herself to confess. She wanted to know the truth for herself before saying anything about it to other Smashers.
Eventually everyone left her to her lonesome again, but she was perfectly fine with relaxing in the hospital wing for a few more minutes to reflect on the previous night. She was still wondering what kind of monster could take control of her body so forcefully like that. Her train of thought was soon interrupted when a sudden series of knocks could be heard coming from the door.
"Who is it?" she called from the bed, adjusting her hospital gown to look more presentable.
"It's me, Robin," replied the muffled voice from the other side. "May I come in?"
"Yes," she said with a smile, which the tactician noticed on his way in and couldn't help but return the gesture. He began approaching her bedside, a couple of large books packed together in his arm.
"How are you feeling?" he asked, sitting down next to her and putting down the books.
"I'm doing better," she replied as she sat up. "There's no pain at all now; Dr. Mario said that I'll be good after one more night."
"That's good to hear," he said, although he sounded distracted for some reason. "Did you have another nightmare last night?"
Lucina was hesitant to reply. All she could remember was that icy cold hand clutched around her neck, squeezing every last bit of her life's energy from her body. She thought she recalled blacking out, but all she could see was Falcon's helmeted face staring down at her.
"I did," she said. "And it was terrible."
She told him about the hand, for that was the only thing she could place on whatever creature had assaulted her. She also explained that Ike and Falcon had been watching her from the security room, and that the images displayed on the screen were something that none of them had ever seen before.
Had Falcon not shown up when he did, she probably would have died.
"I see," said the young mage, putting a hand to his chin. "So the cameras showed that you were really the one hurting yourself?"
"I was," replied Lucina with a sigh. "But though that may be true, the monster still appeared in my dream. From my perspective, it felt as if the creature was strangling me to death."
"If that's the case, then it also may be safe to assume that you were the one who caused damage to yourself on the first and second night as well. The monsters that appeared in your dreams still differ, however."
"Were you able to find anything?" asked Lucina hopefully, to which Robin couldn't help but smirk. He had been hoping that she would ask him that question.
"That I have," he replied, "but it's something I find very peculiar. I'll show you."
The tactician lifted up one of his heavy books and placed it on his lap, to which Lucina leaned forward in order to get a better view. The book in Robin's hands looked to be in good condition, as if it had not been used recently or at all in its lifetime. She noticed a Pokéball symbol on the cover as he opened it, a distinctive icon she knew related to the mansion's residential Pokémon. What did Pokémon have to do with any of this?
"This may sound a little ridiculous," said Robin, "so you're going to have to humor me for a moment."
Lucina nodded in response, silently wondering what on earth he was getting at.
"I had to scour the mansion's library for any kind of encyclopaedia on mythical creatures," explained the tactician. "It took some time, but based on the description of your first encounter with the creature, I was able to come up with this." He turned to a bookmarked page of the encyclopaedia, stopping on a page referring to a dark purple ghost-type Pokémon. "This is Gengar, also known as the 'Shadow Pokémon,'" said Robin. "In the Pokémon world, it is known for being a practical jokester, often hiding in the shadows of unwary travellers and jumping out to surprise or attack them. Does this look anything like your monster?"
Upon seeing the sample image in the book, Lucina could instantly make the connections. From its beady eyes to its sinister grin, to the sharp claws along its hand, this Pokémon bore a striking resemblance to that of the creature that she saw on the first night. This Gengar, however, looked much less menacing than the one that attacked her and did not look nearly as large or demonic either.
"It's similar," she replied as she studied the picture, "but this can't be true. The creature that I saw was able to speak to me, yet most Pokémon are incapable of such a thing." She felt a small chill run up and down her spine as the creepy words of the entity echoed through her mind again.
"It's possible that this one can talk," explained Robin. "Though not a very common trait, speaking cases have been known to occur with some Psychic, Ghost, and Dark-type Pokémon. The exception to this would be Lucario of course, but he is only able to because of his ability to manipulate aura. Don't worry; I figured the same thing and did a little research on this as well just to be sure."
Well, it wasn't an exact match, but the Gengar in the book and the monster from Lucina's dream both had similar characteristics. Assuming that the first creature was a Pokémon however, what could cause it to attack her out of the blue like that? Also, was it possible that the other two dreams were merely Pokémon trying to pull a few pranks?
"Was the mysterious swordsman a Pokémon as well?" asked Lucina.
"Not at all," replied Robin. "That I can say for sure."
He reached for the other book, a somewhat beat up and torn piece of work. The crest on the front cover looked exactly like a Smash Ball, and there were various slips of paper and sticky notes protruding from a lot of the pages.
"I found this after some digging through the archives," he said. "It contains records of some of the Smash Brothers' most dangerous enemies."
He began flipping through the pages, Lucina watching intently as colorful images of various enemies and items passed by her view. Had she and Robin partaken in the Subspace Emissary some seven years ago, they would have recognized a lot of the monsters such as the Primids, and the R.O.B. clones. There were a series of pages he had to turn to, categorized by a sticky note that read, "FALSE CHARACTERS."
"During the Subspace Emissary," explained Robin, "the Smashers had encountered creatures called 'Shadow Bugs.' The Shadow Bugs could mold themselves into our fellow fighters, adopting the name 'False Characters.' These False Characters could mirror the Smashers' moves and abilities with perfection. They were also known to be stronger, more precise, and less forgiving. It led the Smashers to believe that False Characters were artificial soldiers that were merely tools for Tabuu and his Subspace Army. Lucina, I believe that the creature you encountered on the second night was your False Character."
He stopped on a page that displayed a picture of Marth, although the Altean prince looked terribly sick and had some kind of demonic aura surrounding him. Lucina studied the image with discomfort.
"It looks just like that other swordsman," she thought. "But… why does it still have a face?"
"After discovering this, I had to wonder," said Robin. "How do a Ghost-type Pokémon and a member of the Subspace Army relate to the nightmares? Well, that I'm still trying to figure out, but the evidence is all here. If my hunches are correct, someone or something is using these entities as a tool to reach out to you. For what purpose, I'm not so sure. But since these two creatures don't seem to have any kind of relationship other than the fact that they are dreams, I can safely conclude that the monsters are not made up from your memories. They are real, or are as real as they would appear in their respective realms. Something out there is drawing them to you, and discovering that clue will ultimately be the next step in solving this mystery."
Robin raised his chin triumphantly, expecting some sort of praise for his magnificent deduction. Lucina noticed this and couldn't help but laugh, temporarily forgetting about her clone troubles.
"Hm? What's so funny?" asked Robin.
"Oh, nothing," replied Lucina with a small giggle. "Your rapid explanations… It reminds me of when we first joined the Super Smash Brothers."
Robin felt like saying something in retaliation, but only ended up smiling at her. That was the first time he had heard her laugh in the entire week.
"You really are your father's daughter," he said warmly.
Lucina's gaze fell away from him, her smile slowly diminishing. She remembered Chrom, the very man who she looked up to during her young life. What would he say if he were to see her now in this hospital bed, trying to decipher where these inner demons were coming from? Her eerie silence caused Robin to speak up again, steering the conversation back on track.
"Anyway I'm glad I was able to keep you entertained," he said, trying to sound cheery. "But jokes aside, I think we might be on to something here."
"I agree," she said, the thought of her father still lingering in the back of her mind. "It looks like I underestimated your research skills. You only had a day and already you were able to find this much information."
"Well take my words lightly," he replied seriously. "This may be the best lead we've had so far, but it's also hard to judge based on descriptions alone. And now you said there's a third entity we need to worry about; some kind of 'hand' creature or however you described it."
"Yes, the… hand creature."
She remembered how helpless she was when the monster attacked, pinning her down to her own bed like a fly in a spider's web. She had to rely on the help of her friends to save her, and even when she had her sword to defend herself it still didn't stop the copycat monster from utterly humiliating her.
She could only imagine the look on her father's face if he were to see her failure now. Chrom wasn't one to be easily disappointed, but Lucina felt he deserved more than to have a daughter like this. Was she being too selfish? She felt like shedding a tear, if only for a split second. Her emotions were immediately interrupted by a warm grasp around her hand.
She looked up to see Robin staring into her eyes, a look of great concern flashing over him. She didn't know what to do, her instincts telling her to just sit still and wait for him to do something. He pushed the books aside, putting another hand underneath hers so that her fingers were encased in a blanket of warmth.
"You're doing your best," said Robin. "And that's all that counts. No matter what happens, Chrom will always be proud of you."
"I know," she replied quietly, averting her eyes from his gaze. "I just wish he was here right now."
Admittedly, a hug from Dad would have been nice after enduring all those hellish dreams. After all, you were never too old to get a hug from Dad.
"He's always with you," said Robin comfortingly. "Just like he was during those dark times…"
That was when Lucina remembered the one missing factor that Robin had not taken into consideration during his deductions. And how foolish she was to overlook something so significant too! She suddenly regained control of her emotions, but did not try to remove her hand from his grasp.
"Robin," she said. "There's something I have to tell you."
"What is it?" he asked.
"It's about the-"
But she was interrupted by the sound of some rather loud knocking coming from the door. The two friends immediately broke free from each other, Robin placing his hands awkwardly on his lap and Lucina putting her hands together, the warmth of Robin's touch still emanating through her palm.
"Who is it?" called Lucina as casually as she could.
The knocking ceased, following by the bellowing voice of a being every Smasher knew all too well.
"It is Master Hand. Open the door, Lucina; there is something that you and I need to discuss."
Captain Falcon plopped down on the couch of the postgame lobby, removing his trademark helmet and chucking it against the wall. He cursed loudly as he grabbed a water bottle and began chugging its contents. Meanwhile, the replay match between him and Meta Knight was playing on the television screen, video feeds of himself getting utterly destroyed by the Star Warrior looping over several sequences.
Meta Knight soon entered the room as calm and collected as always. His iconic cape was draped around his body nonchalantly. Upon noticing the Star Warrior come in, Falcon had to dive for his helmet, placing it securely back on top of his head before stumbling back over to the couch.
"Screw this shit," he spat, taking another long swig of the bottle. "I thought they nerfed you in the last game!"
Meta Knight rolled his eyes, although it was hard to tell from the mask.
"With every new tournament comes a new strategy," he replied in his deep and mellow voice. "Your tactics still appear unchanged from the previous tourney."
Falcon just continued drinking from the bottle, ignoring Meta Knight's comments. He had just spent the past 20 minutes or so locked in combat with the swordsman. Admittedly, he never thought he'd find himself struggling to keep up with a fighter who wasn't even half his height.
Meta Knight had developed a bit of a reputation for himself during the Brawl tournament not only as being a skilled fighter, but also a wise swordsman bound by honor. Simply put, he would not engage in combat with any foe that was not ready for such engagements. This was part of the reason why he always requested Kirby be given a sword to suck up whenever the two sparred in the training room. That being said, the Star Warrior was still powerful, and many Smashers knew never to underestimate him for his size. Falcon unfortunately had gotten a bit too cocky on the stage after taking out two of Meta Knight's stocks, and ended up losing everything near the end thanks to some aerial maneuvers that he simply could not deal with.
"Tactics my ass," said Falcon. "All you have to do is stay in the air and no one can touch you. Those things should be banned!"
Of course, Falcon was referring to the Star Warrior's wings, but Meta Knight seemed unfazed by his comment.
"If I cannot use my wings, then you should not be allowed to use any of your signature moves," replied Meta Knight. "That is the way of the game. We can either learn to adapt, or fall before its unforgiving rule set."
The F-Zero racer had no idea what the hell he was going on about. All he knew was that he lost, and despite it being fair and square, he hated to accept that.
"Whatever man," spat Falcon. "Don't think that just because you won this time it means that you're better than me."
"I never said that," said Meta Knight calmly. "Now are we going to review the match, or would you rather sit there and spew insults at me?"
"I'm all for that second option to be honest."
"Hm. Well in that case, I shall take my leave. Thank you for the game, Captain Falcon."
With that, Meta Knight turned to leave, shuffling towards the exit like some sort of ghost. Seeing the back of his cape only caused Falcon to stand up in annoyance.
"Hey, I'm not finished with you!" he shouted. "Come back here!"
Meta Knight continued walking, ignoring the racer completely. This alone was quite the impressive feat as not a lot of Smashers had that kind of tolerance with Captain Falcon. After a few seconds, he ended up sitting down in defeat, glancing back up at the terrible replays on the screen. When he looked back at the door, he saw Meta Knight turn around and approach him again.
"Ah, back for more, eh?" snickered Falcon. "Want me to put you in your place again, eh?"
"Actually, I was meaning to ask you something," replied Meta Knight nonchalantly. "Samus approached me the other day and asked if I knew anything about Lucina's 'bad dreams' she's been having."
Falcon's face seemed to turn white at that statement. He suddenly forgot about the awesome insult he was going to throw at the Star Warrior.
"How do you know about that?" he asked seriously.
"Samus mentioned it to me," he said shrugging his shoulders, his armor clanking slightly. "So surely Lucina or someone else must have told her about it."
Falcon paused for a moment trying to backtrack to his conversation with Lucina. From what he understood, no one else in the mansion knew about her problem except him and Ike. Was it possible that Lucina had told Samus about it as well? He couldn't recall those two ever being particularly close.
"Sure, let's go with that," said Falcon dismissively. "What did you want to ask me?"
"I'm not sure now," said Meta Knight as he rubbed the side of his head. "I think your harsh comments have caused me to forget."
"Alright alright, I'm sorry!" replied Falcon, crossing his arms. "Now will you spit it out already?"
The Star Warrior glared at him, his golden eyes piercing the lens of the racer's helmet.
"My question is—provided I have an understanding of what is going on here—how much about these dreams have you been able to prove so far?" he asked.
Falcon seemed rather confused about the Star Warrior's remark. Just how much did Samus tell him when he spoke with her last time?
"We haven't proved anything," said Falcon straightforwardly. "All we know is that Lucina is being visited by monsters in her dreams, and these monsters attack her while she's asleep. The injuries she gets while defending herself carry over when she wakes up, but we found out just the other night that she's been- Hey wait a second! Why am I tell YOU all this?"
Meta Knight closed his eyes, pondering for a few moments before staring back at his collegue.
"Because I might have the answer to your problem," he said calmly. "But that's enough; your explanation has verified my suspicions. I would be more than willing to share this information with you if you so wish."
Falcon hesitated for a moment. He always knew Meta Knight to be a trusted ally, recalling times when the Star Warrior had saved his ass from certain peril in some cases. On the other hand, he was still loyal to Lucina, and wondered if discussing this delicate topic with a third party would be too risky.
In the end, he decided to trust his better judgement.
"I'm all ears," said the F-Zero racer.
"Very well."
And so the Star Warrior told Falcon the tale about the ominous being known as Nightmare, a creature so evil and sinister that it had turned the once peaceful Dream Land into a desolate wasteland. After corrupting the Fountain of Dreams, Nightmare had overwhelmed Planet Popstar, sending its residents into an age of depression and turmoil. Meta Knight mentioned that Nightmare was able to use its power to rid the universe of all dreams, replacing them with nightmares that would torment innocent civilians in their sleep. Had it not been for Kirby and the Star Rod, well, things would have just gone from bad to worse. Even though Nightmare was defeated a long time ago, the happenings with Lucina's dreams seemed to be reminiscent of the entities evil reign.
It was then that Falcon felt sorry for yelling at the swordsman, for it was possible that Meta Knight really had given him the answer he had been searching for this whole time.
Long-ass Author's Note: Thank you to… pokemonrhoades, Aurawarrior13, Meowkerz, Dapper Dee VI, Pitta, Gamerfan64, MahNati, Hahli Nuva, and my anonymous reviewers for their reviews. I'm glad you are enjoying this story, as well to any silent readers who have been following thus far. To the guy/girl who writes about Charizard in his/her reviews, I promise to give the fire lizard more of a prominent role in this story. Last chapter wasn't really fair to you since you've been a dedicated reviewer from the beginning, so be on the look out! While, I'm mentioning characters, I want to make it clear that despite what I said before, there are some characters from SSB that will NOT be appearing in this story. These characters include female Robin, Alph, male Wii Fit Trainer, and the characters from Melee that were cut from Brawl (ie. Roy, Young Link, Pichu, and Mewtwo). Some characters that were cut from Brawl to Smash 4 (like Pokémon Trainer) may not make an appearance either. Also, for the sake of simplicity, Mario and Dr. Mario are the same person, but referred to differently depending on the context. This is true for Samus and Zero Suit Samus as well. Zelda also has the ability to transform into Sheik, unlike Smash Bros. 4 where they are both considered to be separate characters.
Earlier on in this chapter I made a mention about an incident with Link and his Megaton Hammer. If you're interested in learning about what happened, you can check out my short-story, "Lucas' Doll" and find out. It'll be a good scary read for Halloween since this story won't be picking up in the scares until after next chapter at least. Hope you guys enjoyed it; this was my first time writing a real conversation sequence between Robin and Lucina so I hope I got them in character. If not, let me know and I'll do my best to fix it asap. Thanks guys, and I'll catch you next chapter!