Bustman: Hey, I'm back. Did you like the last chapter? I sincerely hope so. Anyways, I have the thirteenth right here. And because that's such an unlucky number, we have Meta Knight doing the disclaimer!
Meta Knight: Whoopee. (An asteroid suddenly crashes through the roof and lands on him).
Bustman: You okay down there, Meta?
Meta Knight: Remind me why I agreed to do this?
Bustman: Because, silly, if you don't, you'll have to go to the torture chamber! (Bustman points to a machine with two metal plates with spikes on them that are quickly banging together. Meta Knight gulps).
Meta Knight: Bustmandoesnotownanythingdon'tthinkhedoesallcharactersbelongtotheirrespectiveowners!
Bustman: Good man. Read and review!
The moon shone high in the sky, turning the grass silver. A cricket chirped from somewhere in one of the trees, but aside from that, everything was silent. Link stared at the full moon, a picnic blanket spread beneath him to act as a barrier between him and the wet grass. Zelda leaned against his shoulder, quietly watching the moon as well. Up in the dark night, the stars shone brightly and silently.
"It's beautiful…" Zelda murmured. Link, eyes still fixated on the moon, nodded.
"Starlight Hill…" Link murmured. "When the previous games became overwhelming, this is where I always went to unwind."
"It is all a bit overwhelming right now, isn't it?" Zelda asked. Link nodded.
"To think that we're going to have hundreds more of those press conferences…" Link shuddered. Zelda silently nodded.
"…Does anyone else know about this place?"
"Ike does." Link responded quietly. "When he was a newcomer at the Smash Mansion, most everyone used to tease him, being the gullible, soft-spoken guy he is." Link paused. "I showed him this place. He came here near every night afterwards."
The two smashers went quiet and stared at the moon silently for a few more minutes. Finally, Zelda broke the silence again.
"So, Wolf Link is making his comeback, eh?"
"Mmmm." Link nodded.
"The people with two alternate forms have to put in extra work," Zelda murmured. "We have to work nearly twice as much as the other smashers."
Link smiled. "Then we'll be coming back here a lot then, won't we?"
Zelda laughed. Many minutes passed.
"Do you believe in God, Link?"
"I guess I have to, don't I?" Link gave out a small laugh. "Given all of the times my butt has been miraculously saved just in the nick of time." Link paused. "Do you?"
Zelda clucked her tongue. "I believe in heaven. I think when you die, you go up to the sky and watch over the ones you love." She sighed. "I'm not sure whether I believe in God, given all that's gone wrong in this world." She shook her head. Link turned to her.
"I believe in God." He said quietly. "The last words my father ever said to me were, Son, don't lose faith." Link quivered. "There is a lot going wrong in this world now, I admit, but look," Link nodded at the large moon in the sky. "We still have this. There's still love in this world, and there's still happiness and peace, even though it can't be found in all places anymore." Link's blue eyes met Zelda's own. "Don't you think that's something?"
Zelda sighed and lay down. Link followed suit, and turned onto his side to look at her. Zelda turned over and stared at him.
"I don't know," was her answer. She laid down on her back and shut her eyes. Link continued to stare up at the moon.
"I love you, Link," she murmured. Link smiled.
"I love you too, Zelda."
Link awoke to the sensation of having something wet continuously lap at his face. He opened his eyes wearily. A small golden retriever, no more then two months old, was licking his face. He sat up bolt right. The puppy fell off of him and wagged his tail. Ike stared down at him, smiling.
"You awake now?"
Link groaned. He was still fully dressed, and Zelda, still in her white dress from the press conference, was breathing rhythmically beside him in her sleep. The sun had replaced the moon up in the sky, and birds were chirping in the trees above. Link groaned, and held out his hand.
"Help me up?"
Ike leaned down, grabbed his hand, and pulled him up to his feet. The small dog was now eagerly licking Zelda's face, and she shot up, sputtering.
"What-?"
"You two fell asleep up here." Ike explained. "It's nearly 11:00 am. Everyone's worried, especially Peach." Ike looked down at Zelda. "She nearly had a heart attack when she awoke to find that you weren't there, and she's been worried sick all morning." Ike looked around at the landscape. "I thought you guys might be here. It's been a long time since I've visited this place."
Zelda got to her feet and brushed herself. "Thanks, Ike. I'm sorry we worried everyone. I'm guessing Peach sent you out-?"
"To look for you, yeah." Ike finished. "It's alright. You'd better get down to the mansion before Peach calls the cops."
"Right." Zelda murmured. Link kissed her on the cheek.
"Quickly, now."
Zelda smiled and started back down the trail. Link bent down and began to roll up the towel they had been laying on. The dog curiously sniffed his hand. Link drew back up again, towel in his hand. He looked down at the golden puppy. "Er-what's with the dog?"
Ike smiled. "Oh, I forgot to tell you. This is Ray."
"Whose is he?"
"He's mine." Ike said. "I went on a walk through town the other night and just found him digging through a trash can. No collar or anything. So I took him back home to the mansion, and Master Hand said it was okay if I kept him." Ike leaned down and scratched him behind the ears. "He's staying in our room."
"Is he, um…"
"Potty trained?" Ike asked. "I suppose so. He's been pretty good so far."
Link sighed and started down the trail. Ike walked alongside him, Ray tagging along obediently.
"So, how's soccer going so far?"
"Pretty good." Link shrugged. "As a team, we work pretty well together. Whenever Bowser seems to make a goal, though, he always seems to get himself hurt and we have to have Wolf take over for him."
"Well, that doesn't really come as much of a surprise, now does it?"
"I suppose not." Link smiled. He hopped down a few rocks, and the back of the mansion came into view. Ray wagged his tail excitedly and ran towards the large building.
"He certainly does seem to have a lot of energy, doesn't he?" Link smiled. Ike nodded.
"Let's hope he doesn't keep us up all night."
Link took out his key and let Ray in through the back door of the mansion. Ray ran in, shook himself, and ran out through the other door. Momentarily, a distant cry could be heard of "Ray! Down!" Marth entered the room and flinched when he saw Link. He ran up to him and gave him a bear hug.
"Dude! Where were you! You had me worried sick!"
Link grinned. "Calm down, calm down. I fell asleep on a mountain out back."
Marth sighed and plopped down in a chair. "Is Zelda with you?"
"Zelda went ahead to calm down Peach." Ike said. "I told you not to worry, didn't I?"
Marth was about to answer, but Ray jumped onto his stomach, knocking the breath out of him. Ray circled around and lay down on Marth's lap. Once he had taken a deep breath of air, Marth laughed.
"Energetic little fellow, isn't he?"
"Let's just hope he doesn't get in my way," Wolf grumbled, looking like he had just woken up. He poured himself a cup of coffee, sat down, and sipped it.
"We'll make sure he won't." Ike nodded his head respectfully, trying not to get on Wolf's bad side. Wolf sighed.
"We got soccer practice today?"
"No," Link shook his head. "Funky Kong is repairing the field after that flaming meteor struck Bowser and he went on a rampage setting everything on fire, remember?"
Wolf ran his hand through his head fur. "Right."
Luigi yawned as he walked in, rubbing sleep out of his eyes. "Does anyone know what we're doing today?"
Wolf grabbed the schedule in his bag and opened it. "Nothing. It's a Saturday." Wolf grumbled. He squinted. "Oh, wait…we're having a dinner in honor of the start of the game today."
"Ohhhh…" Ike grumbled. "That means more dressing up?"
"Apparently so," Wolf sighed and threw the schedule back in his bag. "Want to go catch a tournament?"
"Is there one starting soon?" Link asked. Wolf nodded.
"Master Hand had to find something to make up for Saturday morning cartoons. The cable broke down, and when the guy came to fix it, Crazy thought he was an intruder and knocked him out cold with a banana. Master Hand's having trouble trying to find another company to fix it."
"Sounds like something good ol' Crazy would do." Ike grumbled. "That sucks. I won't be able to watch General Hospital."
"Thank God." Marth mumbled. He got up, and Ray slid off him. "Alright, then. Let's go catch that tournament."
"CRAZY!!"
"What's up, bro?"
"What is the meaning of this??"
"Oh," Crazy Hand looked at the battle arena. News reporters were everywhere, and the bleachers were filled with screaming fans.
"All of our tournaments are supposed to be closed to spectators!" Master Hand hissed. "Why did you invite the damn paparazzi in?"
"Well, bro, you got so worked up over the cable guy thing, I figured that there anyone who came to the mansion was probably invited by you. So, I let a couple news reporters in."
"Mister Hand!" A man in a black suit pushed a microphone into Master Hand's face. "Do you have anything to say to the audiences watching from home?"
"Oh, I have many things I'd like to say right now-"
"And there you have it!" the reporter turned and shot a wide smile at the camera. "We are being advertised today by Nightmare Enterprises! You know you're a beat, spineless fool- I mean, sweet, stylish and cool!" the reporter gave an uneasy laugh. Crazy Hand stepped in front of him.
"Hello! Wow, I'm on TV! Hi, Mommy! Oh, and I want to give a shout out to Bob, who…"
The reporter shoved Crazy out of the way. "And it looks like the smashers are now walking into the stadium. They look extremely surprised and disgusted that we're here! Let's step in for an interview, shall we?"
The reporter ran up to King DeDeDe, who was eating a taco. "Mr. DeDeDe! How are you liking that taco?"
"My taco! Mine!!" DeDeDe shouted, whacking the reporter in the stomach with his hammer. The reporter slid over to Wolf.
"Ah, Mr. O'Donnell! Can you spare a few minutes of your time for an interview?"
"No," Wolf growled. "I suggest you step away."
"So, Mr. O'Donnell, you played Sleepy in your school production of Snow White, did you not?"
"I'm warning you right now…"
"And you also peed yourself during your musical number, am I correct?"
"You have three seconds…"
"Let's see…you dropped out of high school, now did you?"
"One…"
"And you dressed up as a ballerina for the reality show How Low Can You Go?"
"Two…"
"And what is with that outfit? I mean, doesn't it make you look a bit fat?"
"Three!" Wolf jumped on top of the reporter and began to clobber him. The reporter gasped for breath and looked at the cameraman.
"Are you getting this all on tape?"
The cameraman nodded.
"Excellent." The reporter was punched in the back by Wolf again and fell to the floor.
"So, um…welcome to our first tournament." Master Hand said uneasily. "Reporters, return to your seat or we will badmouth your television channels on our tour."
All of the reporters quickly returned to their seats. Master Hand cleared his throat.
"Well, it looks like 32 of you have come today, giving us a perfect amount for a tournament." Master Hand beckoned to the scoreboard. "These will be a series of two stock matches, all items present. And now, the scoreboard will randomly pick who will be against who."
The scoreboard went black for a second, and then the screen went blue. All of the smashers present names were on them, and they all crowded around to see.
"Alright! First match; Wolf vs. King DeDeDe!"
"Don't think this is over yet." Wolf pointed an unsheathed claw at the reporter. He walked into the teleporter, and appeared on Poké Floats.
Ready…GO!!
Wolf jumped up onto the head of the Squirtle floating in the sky. However, King DeDeDe beat him there, and sucked him up. He spit him out as a star, and Wolf nearly fell off the edge. He used his Fire Wolf to recover, hitting King DeDeDe in the stomach.
"No!! My taco!" Kind DeDeDe cried, as the taco he had been holding fell over the edge. He dived after it, and fell out of boundaries. He reemerged at the top of the stage, munching on his taco.
"And DeDeDe sacrifices his life for a taco!" the reporter exclaimed. "It better be top quality meat!"
"It is!" King DeDeDe said, specks of taco flying out of his mouth from the screen. Wolf ran up to him, but King DeDeDe jumped up onto the Onix. Wolf used his Fire Wolf again, but when he reached King DeDeDe's height, the penguin whacked him in the stomach with a hammer. Wolf nearly flew off screen, but used his Wolf Flash to recover. King DeDeDe threw a waddle dee at him, but Wolf used his reflector and it hit King DeDeDe. While in the air, the king floated over to Wooper, who had just appeared. Wolf followed, unaware that King DeDeDe was charging his hammer. He landed in front of the king only to be blasted away again out of bounds. Wolf reemerged again, and kicked King DeDeDe, who countered by jumping high in the sky and onto Wolf. He bellowed with laughter as Wolf flew away, but the wolf wasn't done yet. He used his Fire Wolf again, and struck King DeDeDe's taco. It went spiraling down, but landed on a Wheezing. The king jumped down and scooped it up.
"King DeDeDe, I thought someone as royal as you would know manners." Wolf growled, jumping down. "Haven't you heard of the 5 second rule?" the wolf kicked the king in the stomach, off stage. The crowd went wild.
"I lost? Oh, well." King DeDeDe took out another taco and began munching it. Master Hand floated up.
"What a spectacular match! Crazy, who is next?"
"Let's see, brother!" Crazy Hand said. "Next is…Ike against Marth! One stock match, all items present, on Bridge of Eldin!"
"Excellent!" Master Hand boomed. Ike and Marth walked into the teleporters, and reappeared on a long bridge.
READY…GO!
Marth made the first move. He ran up to Ike and slashed his sword at him. However, Ike was prepared. He used Counter, throwing Marth off balance. He then used Eruption, throwing Marth to the other side of the stage. Marth landed on the ground hard, but looked up to see that a poke ball had landed in front of him. He threw it at Ike, who, running towards him, was unprepared and allowed the red and white ball to hit him. A Chikorita popped out, and started throwing razor sharp leaves at him. Ike blocked some with his swords, but others hit him. However, he took the blows silently, and, as soon as the Pokémon was done, ran towards Marth. He used Aether, sending Marth flying into the air. He then jumped up and sliced him down. Marth hit the ground hard again, but used his legs to trip Ike. He jumped up and used his dolphin slash, which caused Ike to fly away.
Suddenly, hooves could be heard approaching. Marth dived beneath the King Bulbin's boar's legs, but Ike was not so lucky. As soon as he got up, he flew off screen, but not out of bounds. He ran back onto stage as the middle of the bridge blew up. The two swordsmen were now on opposite sides, staring at each other, carefully planning what they would do next.
Their concentration was interrupted as a red ball with the super smash bros. symbol on it appeared right in front of Marth. Marth slashed at it, but it just lazily drifted away. Ike jumped up and slashed it, and it broke. Red energy flew into him, and he grinned.
"Great…AETHER!!" Ike flicked his sword at Marth, who flew up towards the center of the screen. Ike repeatedly slashed him, and then prepared for the final blow. He brought his sword down on Marth, spiking him straight down into the gap in the bridge.
GAME!
Marth and Ike reemerged from the teleporters, Ike grinning.
"And it looks like Ike has won! I remember only yesterday he was asked if all of the final smashes were equal, and he just proved his point, that it depends on when and where use them!"
Marth turned toward his friend and held out his hand. "Good game."
Ike took Marth's hand and shook it. "Good game."
"Great match! What do we have next, Crazy?"
"Jigglypuff against Meta Knight!"
"Let's do it!"
The smashers watched as they continued to fight each other. Finally, it came down to the last battle.
"Already in the next round is Wolf, Ike, Meta Knight, Peach, K.K. Slider, Waluigi, Baby Mario and Luigi, Lyn, Meowth, Balloon Fighter, Toon Link, Falco, Isaac, Luigi, and Bowser! Will it be Krystal or Link joining their ranks?"
Link stepped into the teleporter. He emerged on final destination. The blue vixen, equipped with her staff, stepped out of hers and turned to face him.
Ready…GO!
Link took out his bow and arrows and shot one of them. Krystal blocked it with her staff, and charged towards him. Link sidestepped her and hit her back with his sword. She spun around and whacked him with her staff. Link staggered back, shook himself, and threw a bomb. Krystal jumped back out of the way, just out of range. Link charged toward her, but she slammed her staff down onto the ground. Shockwaves went through the ground, bowling Link over. Krystal ran up to him, but Link tripped her as he got up. He used his spin attack, sending her flying away. He ran at her, expecting her to hit the ground hard, but instead she landed on her feet. She extended her staff, and hit Link in the stomach. He flew off the edge, but used his clawshot as a tether recovery. He hopped back up and kicked Krystal in the stomach, and then performed a sword combo on her. She went flying off the stage. She did her two jumps, and then prepared for her third, but Link suddenly appeared above her, pointing his sword down towards her. She was spiked down, and fell into the darkness.
GAME!
"Link! An interview?" the reporter pressed the microphone to Link's face as he stepped out of the teleporter. "Any words about the tournament so far?"
"Well, I'm going to get my friend King DeDeDe answer that question." Link beckoned King DeDeDe forward. "DeDeDe, this kind gentleman wants to know what you think about the tournament so far."
"My taco!!" King DeDeDe screeched, whacking the reporter away. Link turned to him.
"Thanks."
"MY TACO!!"
Link ran away before the penguin whacked his hammer into him. Master Hand cleared his throat.
"And that brings an end to the first round! Next Saturday will be the second! Don't forget we're having a dinner in three hours. And no, King DeDeDe, we are not going to Taco Bell!"
Bustman: So, how did you like it? The chapters are going to be funnier now that the smashers are away from the ski lodge. Read and review! Oh, and by the way, there's a new poll on bio, titled Who is your favorite character from this story. Please vote!