Another chapter done! I'll update again tomorrow!

Enjoy!

It was the last day of the semi-finals, as Mewtwo had announced earlier, as if it was some kind of big deal. There had only been two days of semi-finals which, in Zelda's opinion, was pointless. Sure, it drew out the tension, but the matches easily could have been held on the same day.

Zelda leaned back in her chair at her dining room table, musing. She really didn't know how long today's match would take though, did she? Sure, she knew who would win, but he would probably drag out the match, toy with his prey- all that tedious business.

Still, Zelda was content with this match. It was the only one she actually wanted to see, the prelude to the only one she actually wanted to participate in. It would be amusing, at the very least, watching Marth tear strips of his brother. She grinned at the thought.

The finals would be held a day after the semi-finals, giving the finalists time to train. Not that Zelda planned to train- of course not- she'd use that day to catch up on some much needed sleep, under the pretense of training. Mewtwo couldn't argue with that.

Mewtwo. He was irritating as hell, but he held up his end of the bargain.

In reality, what Zelda had told Marth was a lie. She hadn't been forced to sign up- nobody forced Zelda to do anything- she had agreed, quite willingly, as long as Mewtwo guaranteed her opponent for the finals would be Marth.

And so started Mewtwo's futile attempts to get Marth to sign up. Futile, that is, until Zelda gave Mewtwo a bargaining piece with the Link article. It had been her pleasure, really.

Yes, Zelda thought, everything was going perfectly.

That's when she heard a knock on her door.

"Come in!" she called, knowing it couldn't be Young Link or Link because they never bothered to knock.

A moment later, Kirby was standing in her dining room.

"Oh, Kirby." Zelda said, slightly surprised. She glanced behind it but couldn't see anything, "Isn't Queen Jigglypuff with you?"

"Buyoo!" Kirby said.

Zelda looked at him a moment, trying to find a 'yes' or 'no' in his expression. There was only wide eyes and smiles.

So Zelda just decided to assume someone had (finally) stuck a needle in the airhead queen and she had popped.

"Do you want some breakfast?" Zelda asked, indicating her eggs and toast- loot she'd acquired from the coffee splattered ruins of the Temple District Kitchen.

"Buyoo!" Kirby replied again, then turned on it's feet and began waddling away. It stopped a moment letter, throwing a small frown over it's shoulder (though Zelda didn't find that description accurate seeing as Kirby didn't have shoulders) "Buyoo?"

Zelda blinked at it a moment, then asked, "Did you want me to come with you?"

"Buyoo!" Kirtby exclaimed brightly, squeezing it's eyes shut in a happy, adorable expression.

Curious, Zelda pushed herself up and followed Kirby into the hall. When they got outside, Kirby leapt off her front step and floated a few feet away, then landed safely on the ground.

Chalking it up to Kirby's normal less-than-normal behaviour, Zelda shrugged and stepped forward, off the step.

The moment her foot touched the ground- where a little 'X' had been scratched- the earth opened up below her and Zelda let out a squeak as she fell into a pitfall.

Then all of a sudden she was being bombarded by, well, bombs. Zelda instinctively rose her shield, putting all her energy into it. But the bombs kept coming, and her shield began to shrink. Finally it couldn't handle the strain any longer.

The moment her shield broke, the bombs stopped.

But it was too late, Zelda had already used up all her strength in the shield. She felt herself fading, her eyes drooping closed and her brain fogging up.

The last thing she heard before fainting was: "Buyoo!"

-(space)-

"Hey! Pichu!"

Pichu glanced up to find Ness at the counter. The little yellow pokemon waddled over.

"I'm here to place a bet." the boy said.

Pichu looked him up and down appraisingly, then started shaking her head, "Sorry, pal. You're too young."

Ness scowled at her, "For what? Betting? You're younger than me and you're running this place."

Pichu shrugged, "The rules are the rules."

"Maybe I should tell Mewtwo how great the preschooler is about following rules at her betting stand." Ness said with a sly glint to his eyes.

Pichu glowered at the boy, "That's low, Ness. Really low."

Ness shrugged and put some money on the table, "I want to bet on Zelda for the finals."

Pichu accepted the money and took her clipboard out of her backpack, making a note, "You're the seventh person today, and we don't even know who she'll be fighting yet."

"So?" Ness asked, "It's Zelda. She beat me in less than twenty minutes yesterday. She's obviously going to win, right?"

Pichu crossed her arms, expression stern, "I'm not allowed to give my opinion."

That was when Young Link came running up to the stall, "I want to bet on Marth for the finals!" he exclaimed.

Pichu accepted a large bag of coins from him, made another note, then glared at him, "Are you demented?" she snapped, "Zelda's ten times more powerful than Marth and everyone else!"

Ness gave Pichu a disbelieving look while Young Link simply shook his head, "No way. Marth's the best! He'll win for sure!"

"He hasn't even beaten Roy yet." Ness pointed out, while Pichu nodded in agreement.

Young Link waved this away dismissively. "That'll be a synch for Marth! And the finals will be even easier! I mean, Zelda's only a girl."

Pichu electrocuted him so hard both of them fainted.

Ness blinked at the two bodies a moment, then shook his head and walked away. Marth and Roy's match was about to start and he didn't want to be late.

I hope that wasn't too tedious. It's all a part of the plot though! Thanks for reading!