A/N: Turns out, life did like to get in the way. You wouldn't believe the amount of homework I had. . . high school just sucks sometimes. I think we can all relate to that.

Reviews! Thank you Inkwoven, DaZeLinker, Fora Beast, AnriMia24, and Cre8ivBookworm (Gotta give you props. That actually is a creative way of saying your name...)

Chapter 13: Red Versus Blue

"BRAWL!"

The actions were all simultaneous. Link and Mario charged at each other while Sonic sped across the Battlefield. Sheik however, did not sprint, charge or anything of the like. With a quick, fluid movement, she unraveled her chain, flung it up to one of the platforms and hoisted herself onto the surface within a matter of seconds.

She set aside her chain and drew her needles. Her eyes scanned around the place, assessing just where everyone was. Mario and Link were fighting close-range, so tightly locked in combat that she couldn't quite tell who was doing what. In the meantime, Sonic was jumping, attempting to reach her.

She couldn't let that happen. She flung her needles at the hedgehog, satisfied when they lodged themselves in his blue skin. Sure enough, he wasn't attempting to jump up there anymore.

Good. But as a precaution, Sheik jumped up onto the top platform and landed like a cat. She was glad she did- now she had an even better vantage point.

It did, however, limit her fighting options. She could probably try attacking with her chain like she would a whip, but she doubted that it could reach that far below. Unless a smash sphere miraculously appeared, the only thing she could do was fire needles. And seeing how tightly interlocked Link and Mario were, attacking Mario was out of the question- what if she accidentally hurt Link?

So the only thing she could do was attack Sonic. And since the platform she had formerly been on was blocking some of her view of him, some of her needles probably wouldn't even hit him and just wind up on the platform.

Sheik grimaced. She couldn't do almost anything from up that high. Perhaps she should wait it out and see what to do?

No. If she waited, she would inevitably lower her guard. She had to try to take action now.

Her eyes darted about before landing on the platform to her right, the one opposite of the one she had attacked Sonic on. Mario and Link were fairly close to there. What if she went down there and wrapped her chain around Mario? It'd likely be able to reach that far. It would be just a matter of timing it just right and making sure it wasn't Link she hit.

It was worth giving a shot.

Sheik backflipped onto the designated platform, this time not quite landing on her feet and having to stop herself from rolling across it. She helped herself up to her feet and looked down on the fight between Mario and Link- now that she was closer she could make out the glint of a sword blade and the red of a fireball.

She wasted no time. The second Mario's back was turned to her she unconsciously fashioned a lasso out of the chain and threw it at him. For a moment it hung in the air, making her muscles coil and planting the certainty it would miss into her head-

It didn't. True to her aim, the loop fell around him, snagging around his chest.

She was so stunned that she almost forgot to yank it back. For a moment she could only stare before finally pulling herself out of her reverie and heaved the chain backwards. The movement had an effect of almost pulling her forward, for Mario was heavy. He gave a cry as he was lifted off of the ground and landed on his side a few feet away.

She jumped down, greeting him with a clean kick in the face. Then, with a burst of strength, Sheik yanked the chain upwards, pulling Mario high into the air. At the exact same moment, Link jumped, his feet rocketing off of the ground just as Sonic finally picked himself up and attempted to ram into the Hero. Sonic's sheer rush instead caused him to fumble and sail straight over an edge.

Meanwhile, Link had jumped enough to meet a flailing Mario's height. The blonde twirled right there in midair. His blade faced outward from him, making him look as if he were encased in a silver circle as he spun. Mario cried out, his hands darting to his chest.

Her jaw dropped. Link had not only executed a perfect spin attack, but he'd done it while up in the air. . .

Unfortunately, she was so lost in thought that she didn't see white gloves grasp the ground, nor the blue circle that subsequently smashed into her hip. The impact sent her sailing in the air like an arrow before the cruel ground ripped into her back and she hit her head on something blunt.

Sheik groaned and dropped the chin. Struggling to straighten her spine, she cursed herself. She should have never, on any account, lowered her guard. That was so stupid of her.

But there was nothing she could do to change it. At least it taught her to be completely aware at all times.

As she got up, she noticed that her head almost seemed to have a heartbeat of its own. She prayed that she hadn't earned a lump when her surroundings came into view-

Her heart skipped a beat when she registered that Sonic's fist was now heading toward her face. She fashioned her forearms into an X and shielded her face, the blow landing almost right when she did so.

Sheik almost breathed a sigh of relief. Thank the Goddesses that she was fast- she'd blocked him just in time.

She then brought her foot up and slammed it into one of Sonic's knees, causing him to stumble slightly. He was imbalanced; she took advantage of this by grabbing his wrist, swinging it in an oval and slamming him against the ground.

She dared a momentary glance behind her. Both Link and Mario had fallen to the ground. Mario looked worse for wear with cuts and gashes dotting his body, but he was still conscious and trying to pick himself up. As for Link- he was out of breath and the hand not holding the Master Sword was on a knee, but otherwise he was able to stand. That was good.

Sonic groaned just as she looked back to him. She aimed a kick for his ribs only for him to snatch her ankle. Sheik grunted, twisting and pulling, but his grip remained steadfast. When it became apparent that he wasn't going to be letting go anytime soon, she lowered her spine to the point that it was parallel to the ground. She rested her palm on the grass as to support her balance as she delivered a nice roundhouse kick to Sonic's head-

But not before he twisted her ankle as hard as he could.

The pain was nothing like Sheik had ever experienced before. She clamped her lips down tight, refusing to let the scream building in her throat out into the world. She still could think clearly enough to know that she had to retain a tough front, otherwise Mario and Sonic would pinpoint her as an easy target and attack her. The bright side? From the way Sonic was clutching his head like a lifeline, her roundhouse kick had done some degree of damage. At least there was that to be proud of.

She forced herself to push pas the pain and stood up- pain lanced through her body furthermore, rendering it even harder to restrain her cries. Was it twisted? Sprained? Could it even be broken?

There was no way she could think about that. Not during the middle of a brawl.

She ran over to Link as fast as she could with the hurt ankle. "That was a great spin attack,"
she hurried.

He chuckled and stood upright as if the compliment had been some kind of medicine for his tiredness. "Thank you. Your judo flip was impressive as well." Then he furrowed his eyebrows, screwing up his face. "You look like you're in pain. What happened?"

She decided to be honest. "Sonic did something to my ankle. Not sure what, but it hurts."

Link grimaced. His eyes darted forward- Mario had gotten back up on his feet thanks to Sonic. They were almost done regrouping.

"I'd be careful if I were you," he quickly said. "You've gotta take it easy, but at the same time you can't show how much it hurts otherwise that's exactly what the other two will be going for."

Like I don't know that, Sheik thought bitterly.

"We could both try going onto the platforms- that is, if your ankle allows it," he suggested. "It's at least better than standing around and waiting for them to attack us."

She nodded. It wasn't exactly the best plan, but at least it was a start. And she wouldn't under any circumstances let her injury get in the way of winning this Brawl.

That turned out to be easier said than done. Link jumped off and grasped a platform in a fluid motion, but Sheik couldn't seem to reach the platform without being in for a world of pain. Just moving it slightly contorted her face into a tight grimace; trying to jump or even trying to climb her chain? That would cause her to lose all control and probably scream her head off.

She looked up at Link, the platform, then to a charging Blue Team-

A plan dropped into her head like a bomb.

It was simple, but also crazy, pretty stupid, and potentially insane. But it didn't involve jumping up ten feet with a hurt ankle.

"Link, I'm gonna charge both of them head on," she said carefully, as if the annunciation might determine her success. "While I distract them, use your bow and arrows to wound them. They've got greater range than my needles."

"Wait, what? I can't let you-"

She didn't hear the rest of his sentence Both Mario and Sonic were charging her like bulls, and unless she wanted to be ran over, than she had to charge back.

She lowered her head slightly in the manner of someone about to snarl that they weren't afraid. Her legs seemed to move toward them on their own accord, ignoring the wise part of her that was furious and the underlining anxiety. . .

Too late now.

Sheik suddenly stopped running as if she had run into a wall and brandished her chain like a whip. The links clinked almost angelically as it lashed out at the blue-clothed fighters. Sonic thought fast and ducked, but Mario wasn't as fortunate. He grunted as it stung his stomach and ripped through a bit of his overalls.

She wasn't quite satisfied with her result. She lowered herself so her knees were hunched and torso facing the ground. She held her chain out, and then spun on her good ankle to make the chain rotate in a manner similar to Link's signature spin attacks. The chain hit both pairs of ankles hard, causing them to land face-down on the ground.

She stood up just in time to see an arrow protruding from Sonic's torso, then another one landing in Mario's arm. Something hard mentally hit her chest and vibrated through her bones in a satisfied way. It looked like her plan had worked.

Mario looked around in a daze, his pupils wandering aimlessly until they settled on Link. His eyes blazed with fury as he picked himself up once more and began running toward the platform Link stood upon.

She noticed this just as she finished putting her chain back up her sleeve. Her face became the color of Arctic ice. Oh no, that didn't look good. If Link were to become as injured as she was, then that was it. They would have almost no chance of winning the Brawl. . .

So she would have to stop him.

She would have revealed her chain once more, but she couldn't let absolutely anything get in the way of her objective. For now, her fists would have to do.

While Mario was sprinting toward Link, in the process making sure to avoid every single one of his arrows, Sheik had her sights set on him. She too began running, quickening her pace to try to reach Mario before he got to Link. Tears of pain pricked behind her eyelids when tons of continuous pressure was put on her ankle. The words run run run pounded in her head like some sort of chant, and before she knew it it felt like millions of needles were digging themselves into her ribs. . .

Out of the corner of her eye, something blue flashed by. Automatically knowing what it was, she slammed her heels into the ground. Once again pain electrified her as that simple action strained her ankle furthermore.

There was no way she could hold it in any longer. Some of the tears that had welled up streamed down her face. A groan ripped her lips open and plummeted to the ground.

Almost before she knew it, Sonic had reappeared in front of her. Blood and scratches dotted multiple parts of his body, and he looked like he wanted nothing more than to just fall on the ground and pass out.

While he was tired and had that arrow sticking out of his body, he still had enough adrenaline in him to keep fighting. For a sliver of a moment, Sheik held respect for him. Struggling to keep fighting herself, she knew just how hard that was.

That respect vanished when his fist flew straight toward her face. She attempted to bring up her arm to block once again, but this time she was too late. The impact throbbed as if a brick had fallen on her face, and she was sent staggering back. She attempted to retaliate with a punch of her own, but being in a daze, she just hit thin air.

Her head spun around before she blinked rapidly, re-digesting her surroundings. Apparently she hadn't been successful in her efforts to prevent Mario from getting to Link, for Mario was jumping on the highest platform, right on Link's tail. Link, in the meantime, seemed to have his sights set on something else. She followed his gaze. . .

She automatically stopped breathing as if she'd been punched again.

There it was, floating high up in the air. The metal orb, washed over with a rainbow of colors.

The Smash Ball.

Everyone was tired. Anyone could win at this rate. Whoever got the Smash Ball would win the Brawl- she knew it.

Sheik absolutely had to get it.

With that resolution in mind, her surroundings seemed finer, crisper. A wave of hope, powerful enough to momentarily dispel the pain, washed over her. It allowed her good instincts to take command, telling her to duck when Sonic came at her again and subsequently grasping his shoulder with a firm grip. She closed her fingers around the shaft of the arrow and, knowing that he'd lose more blood if the arrow was removed from his body, yanked the arrow out.

She spun around and discarded the arrow right as she did so. A thump reached her ears, and she had a feeling that she knew what had fallen on the ground. Her conscience told her to look back, but her body refused to grant the request.

Instead she began running toward the platforms, doing her best to ignore both the way she was forced to limp sometimes and the pain that her ankle sent running up her veins. Drawing off of the adrenaline like a drug, she barely thought as she jumped and landed onto the platform. Sheik quickly assessed her surroundings yet again- on the topmost platform, Mario had caught up to Link and was sending a torrent of water at his chest thanks to a yellow fire hydrant of some sort. The impact sent Link flying and landing on his back with a grunt.

She stepped forward and reached her hand out as if to make a move toward them, but the announcer's voice appearing suddenly stopped her. "Sonic defeated!"

She had to force herself to ignore the churning in her gut. So pulling the arrow out of him had caused him to lose enough blood to pass out. Now it was two against one. . .

And they had the advantage.

Now, if she could just get up there. . .

Her eyes darted about before landing on the Smash Ball. There it was, hovering over Link and Mario for a moment before slowly gravitating toward her. . .

Perfect.

Sheik lowered her body while keeping her eye on the Smash Ball like a tiger waiting for the exact moment to strike its prey. Without warning she sprang into the air. Three feet high. . . five feet. . .

Soon she was level with the Smash Ball.

In her position, many would have been overcome by sheer nerves, rendering them unable to do anything before it was too late. Not her. The Triforce of Wisdom gave her a steady mind (albeit acts of rashness from time to time) - one she gladly used to keep a clear head in the moment. She kept her mind extremely rigid as she jabbed the Smash Ball. It levitated away from her just as she attempted to hit it a second time. When she felt herself falling, she connected her knees to her chest and flipped, propelling her body specifically closer to the Smash Ball and higher into the air.

Her head throbbed briefly, dizzy from the flip. The bright light from the Smash Ball stabbed her eyes. It forced her to turn her head away, as if perhaps she might find some sort of security there. Jabbing blindly, she felt nothing but hollow, hot air until her fingers slammed into something hard and impenetrable.

Her fingers stung from the very sudden impact, but she didn't care. Just one more hit and then she could unleash her Light Arrow on Mario and win the Brawl. . .

Sheik turned her head back to the Smash Ball- or, at least, the place where she had thought the Smash Ball was. Where. . . where was it?

Panic gripped her like a fist. Her head spun all over the place as gravity pulled her down, trying desperately to relocate the Smash Ball-

She found it quickly. The Smash Ball had sailed upwards, at least ten feet over her head. Dread settled into her stomach. Her ultimate shot at sealing their victory was lost.

No, she scolded herself. I've got to keep trying. If I work hard, I can probably get up to it. . .

She swallowed so hard that it physically hurt. Her chain wasn't long enough to reach that high, so she would have to get to the Smash Ball herself. She rotated her body in a flip, propelling herself higher. When she saw that the Smash Ball was out of her reach, she tried flipping again, and again and again and again. . .

The Smash Ball just kept drifting away with her. It was floating away from her faster than she was catching up to it. . .

She had to face it. There was no chance of getting it.

And to think that she had been so close. . .

From the corner of her eye, the left edge of the Battlefield whizzed by in a brown blur. She instinctively reached for her sleeve, drawing out her chain yet again. If she couldn't use her Final Smash, then the least she could do was not fall to her doom and leave Link alone to face Mario.

She grunted as she threw the chain toward the ledge. Much to her silent appreciation, the chain snagged on something immediately and apparently that something was enough to hold her weight.

She was careful in how she climbed it, trying to go as fast as she could while trying not to move her ankle one bit. She tried not to think about her failed attempt of getting the Smash Ball and made herself think solely of climbing, putting one hand in front of the other. The rusty smell of metal imprinted on her hands and filled her nose. The links were steadfast, seemingly unbreakable. She found herself taking comfort in the sturdiness- apart from Link, it was the only thing she could truly count on during this Brawl.

But even that proved to be unreliable. Just as she made it to the ledge, just as she could allow herself to sigh in relief and relax for a brief millisecond- the links became as loose as water.

The end that was supposed to be attached to the ground slithered backwards and tumbled over the edge. Had she not had a tight grip on it, the chain probably would jave fallen straight down.

Gasping, one of Sheik's hands transitioned from holding the chain to gripping the ledge with a grip as hard as steel. It was a miracle that she had been as close as she had been. . .

Pants tore out of her mouth and every part of her body that wasn't clinging onto something or injured shook terribly. For a moment she simply hung there, tired and limp, when she collected the energy to look up-

Mario loomed over her.

Well, now she knew why the chain hadn't been able to support her.

He smiled. "I've-a got you now!"

Her eyes widened. If this had been any other time, she probably would have chuckled at how silly he sounded with his accent, but this wasn't any other time. This was a Brawl, and a threat- even if it was spoken in a way that could be considered laughable- was a threat. Threats had to be taken seriously.

This wasn't good. As wounded as he was, he still looked ready for a fight when she so really wasn't. Not only that, but he had thoroughly cornered her. He was blocking the way back up to the surface and was more than willing to send her plummeting off the edge yet again. . .

He really had cornered her.

Just then, blackness coated her surroundings like a blanket of darkness. She couldn't even see the ledge she was grasping. What was going on-

Sheik realized why it was dark just before it happened.

Light stabbed her eyes- a multicolored light that outlined Link. Mario turned around to see him- big mistake.

For that mistake made it all the more easier for Link to encase him in the middle of a human-sized, glowing- she blinked. Was that a Triforce?

It was, and Mario was stuck in the center. All he could do was hang helplessly in the air, unable as Link slashed him with wide, relentless strikes. One of them induced something that sounded akin to a twig snapping in two. She winced, knowing full well that something of Mario's had just broken.

Link stopped slashing for a pregnant moment, allowing her a brief moment to marvel at his strength. Then he drew the Master Sword back and brought it down on Mario for one final slash.

The impact caused the Triforce to dissolve and Mario to shoot in the air. His wails made her spine go rigid.
She did not, however, have to listen to them for long. They were cut off abruptly when she heard something that sounded very much like an explosion.

"Mario defeated!"

Her eyes widened. What had just happened? Was Mario. . . Okay?

A voice pulled her out of her thoughts. "Hey. Need a hand?"

She looked up to see Link's face hovering over hers. He wore a tender smile and held his hand out.

Sheik grinned as if she were on top of the world. "That would be much appreciated," she confessed as she took his hand. He pulled while she used her other hand to support herself. She swung a leg up and latched it onto the ground. It was easy to bring herself up completely after that.

Just as she straightened herself, the Battlefield dissolved back into the Smash Arena. She was back to reality- the stands, audience, the screen that showed what was going on to those who were way back in the nosebleeds. On top of all of that, something else had been added- the forms of both Mario and Sonic on separate stretchers, being carried out of the Arena.

Her lips curled in sympathy. She did hope they were all right. . .

Not only had the visual aspects of the place returned, but also the noise- the audience roared with clapping an applause. Some were chanting "Link! Link! Link!" while others shouted "Sheik! Sheik! Sheik!". There were a few ardent supporters of Mario and Sonic who threw "Booooo!"s into the mix as well, but they stood no chance of numbering the cheers.

"And the winner is. . . Red Team!"

With that, she forgot about Mario and Sonic. She forgot about her injured ankle and the oncoming Brawl with Samus. The rush of victory sizzled her skin and flooded her chest. She wanted to celebrate, give thanks to those who supported her, and maybe-

A tap on her shoulder pulled her out of her reverie. Link.

"Marth," he said, pointing to the entry in which they came from.

She understood. Sheik dropped the victory from her mind and began heading down over there with Link. There wasn't time to dwell on this- not when they had many other things to do.

A/N: So which Sage do you guys think Marth is gonna be? And how will Zelda fare against her battle with Samus? For make no mistake, Samus will be a challenge. . . then again, Zelda's getting good at overcoming challenges.