A slight warning; if you haven't watched Star Wars Episodes 4, 5, or 6, there are slight spoilers in this chapter. They are easily noticed though, so you can just skip over the paragraph holding them if you so wish.
Oh, and I've added a segment to my profile that explains what each font style means: but I'll repeat it simply here. Remember, these rules only apply to this story from this chapter onward.
Normal: Basic speech, no different from you talking aloud.
Italics, unquoted: Private thoughts or a stressed word for sarcasm or seriousness
"Quoted Italics": Telepathic speech or speakre communication (like the intercom system from the fighting chapters a while ago).
Bold: Either Authorial Notes or extremely loud yelling.
Chapter 21 Movie Night
Blaze releases a giant grunt of frustration while slamming the door to her room. She walks over and quietly sits down on her bed while rubbing at her temples. "Easy Blaze, just calm down...Relax. Don't let her get to you..." she mutters to herself.
A couple knocks come from her door.
And there goes my peace... Blaze angrily thinks while getting and marching towards the door. "For the last time Peach I-" she stops after opening it, finding Lucario on the other side, "Oh! Hi Lucario. Sorry, I thought you might've been Peach."
"Its alright, can I ask what's wrong?" The pokemon replies, keeping his eyes shut for whatever reason.
"I'll tell you only if you explain why-"
"My eyes are closed? Took several Deku Nuts to the face at the end of the fight I just came from. My ears have recovered, but not my eyes." Lucario explains, "Don't worry about me, I can still see in aura-sight."
"Okay, well...Peach has been stalking me all day, trying to get me to join her and the other girls for a 'dress-fitting' for the dance." Blaze grumbles, "Ugh, its still a dozen days away and she's freaking out like its starting in two hours."
Lucario 'hmms' to show he understands, "I understand what you mean, I had to let Falco hide out in my room yesterday because Peach was stalking him."
"For what?"
"Something about setting up the sound system. Falco is a fairly, electronics-oriented guy so I guess Peach figured she'd have him set up the speakers."
"With thirteen days to go?" Blaze asks, the look on her face suggesting that she thought he's kidding.
"Honest. But that's Peach...if everything isn't perfect, she'll go bezerk until it is." Lucario admits, "The main issue is, are you alright?"
"Just a bit of a headache from listening to Peach's shrill complaints." Blaze grumbles, putting a hand back to her head. "Where are my manners, care to come in?"
Lucario shrugs, but still walks in past the princess, hearing her close the door.
"You can probably open your eyes, I've got the lights turned down to keep from aggrevating my headache."
Slowly, Lucario opens his deep-red eyes to see the room. Just like Blaze said, the lights are dimmed (which is nice and easy on the lingering soreness in his pupils) but there is still enough to see the new color scheme; a combination of incredibly pale-pink and soft lavender.
"So what about you?" Blaze asks, sitting down on her bed and facing the pokemon, "Has Peach been stalking you?"
"No. She and I don't exactly see eye-to-eye all the time."
"Lucky," Blaze scoffs, "I think the only reason Peach is following me around everywhere is because she thinks I'm interested in this dance of hers, just because I'm a princess."
"What makes you say that?"
"We walked right by Ashe and May and she didn't even turn to them. Her entire attention was focused on me."
"And that bothers you?"
"Of course it bothers me!" Blaze shouts, causing some embers to shoot out of her hands and the light resulting from it to force Lucario back to aura-sight. "Wouldn't it bother you if someone was chasing you everywhere, trying to get you to do something just because of some dumb-ass label?!" More embers coming flying out.
"Yea..." Lucario replies.
Blaze's ears quickly lean back, "Lucario...I didn't...I forgot about what you told me in the observatory, sorry. I was just so angry with Peach that-"
"No, no, its alright...no harm done." Lucario replies. "Although you might want to keep that temper in check...there are plenty of flammable things in here, including me."
"Again, sorry...my fire gets a little more energetic when I'm mad."
I know that...
"Well, anyway...was there some reason why you came knocking?"
"Apart from checking to see if you were okay, I'm curious if you're interested in joining myself and a couple others for a movie night in one of the lounges. Just popcorn, flicks, and friends; no Peach."
"What are the movies?"
"Falco would only tell me that they fall in the Sci-fi, fantasy groups. Nothing else."
"Sure. I just don't want to watch a bunch of horror movies, then not be able to sleep without scaring myself."
"Don't worry, Falco may be a prankster, but he's a bird of his word. I'll let him know you're in." Lucario says before turning and walking for the door, "Lounge seven at seven fourty-five is when it starts. And Blaze?" Lucario asks, turning around to face her. "If they were horror flicks, you could always just spend the night in my room." He finishes with a slight smirk.
"Out!" Blaze says, giggling a little at Lucario's joke.
"What's the matter, scared of the evil ghosties and scary monsters?" He asks, using a little baby talk.
"I said out!" Blaze repeats, this time tossing a pillow at him for emphasis. Lucario swiftly runs out of the room, snickering to himself. The princess only sighs while shaking her head.
Deciding to arrive a little early, Blaze gently knocks on the door to Lounge Seven at 7:40, smiling as Lucario opens the door.
"Evening Blaze, a little early aren't you?"
"Better early than late. I see your eyes are better."
"A nice two-hour nap in the dark will do that." Lucario replies with a small smile, "Come on in, we're almost ready to start."
The pokemon stands aside to let Blaze in, smirking a little as the princess gasps at the luxurious room. Hanging on the wall directly opposite her is a giant, plasma-TV at least a 67-inch. Sitting beneath the TV is an entertainment center with a large DVD player, some kind of control box, and two or three remotes.
Blaze can also see at least four speakers hanging from the ceiling, each one no doubt wired to the control box for a surround sound system. The only piece of non-sound-equipment up there is a simple five-bladed ceiling fan, idly rotating at a leisurely pace to keep the air from becoming stale.
Present on the ground of the twenty-by-twenty room are a single couch that seats three, two chairs beside it, and a couple bean-bag chairs lying in front of the larger pieces of furniture. The whole room itself is painted a dull, burnt-red shade with gray trim running along the floor and burnt-red carpet covering the floor.
The rest of the crowd seems to already be present; Shiek is leaning back in the chairs (which turned out to be recliners), the top of Sonic's head can be seen over the couch so its a safe bet he's in one of the bean-bags, Lloyd's spiky hair can also be seen near the squishy furniture, Colette seems to be fascinated by the bowl of popcorn in her lap, Meta is perched on one arm of the couch, and Falco is messing around with the DVD player.
"So what are these called again?" Collete asks, picking up and looking at one of the kernels.
"Popcorn." Meta explains, "A special variety of corn that pops into these fluffy, crunchy treats when heated for long enough." The little knight grabs a few kernels, lifts the bottom of his mask just enough to toss the snacks into his mouth from below, then replaces the mask while chewing away.
"Never found anything like this in Sylvarant...or Tethe'alla now that I think about it." Lloyd comments, who has a bowl to himself.
While those three continue talking about popcorn, Sonic snickers to himself over Falco's frustration, and Shiek (finally) notices the last guest has arrived.
"Hey Blaze!" Shiek greets, giving the princess a quick wave, "If you got here sooner, you'd have your pick of the seats, but since you're the last one to arrive, you've got to share the couch with Lucario, Meta, and Mew."
"What about that bean-bag right there?" Blaze asks, pointing at the empty sack in-between Sonic and Lloyd.
"That's mine!" Falco yells from his spot. "And my feathered butt would be in it right now if this blasted machine would just cooperate!"
Blaze leans a little closer to Lucario and whispers, "I thought you said he was good with electronics."
"Its not his fault, even the best person can have a stroke of bad luck." Lucario replies, in a voice just as soft. "Now then, shall we take our seats? Mew will be back with a few more bowls of popcorn any second now."
Blaze nods and follows Lucario around the furniture before taking a seat beside the pokemon, with him between her and Meta. A couple seconds pass before the door opens on its own and Mew floats in, two bowls of popcorn floating in the air at shoulder height and a third held up by his tail.
"Salty treats for all!" Mew cheers, as he telekinetically shuts the door behind him, then floats up to the rest of the group; giving one of the psychicly held bowls to Shiek and the other to Sonic. After setting the bowl on his tail down between Lucario and Blaze, Mew perches himself on the back of the couch between the two.
A couple seconds after that, Falco backs away from the DVD player, having finally turned it on, then plops down into the empty bean-bag while the machine loads the digital movie; remote control in hand.
The obligatory (and annoyingly persistant) copyright-infringement-punishment warning stays on-screen for a few seconds before it goes blank again. Considering that most of the participating planets don't have DVD-players (or electronics in some cases), these warning probably don't apply to the smashers, but Master Hand took the simpliest option; just buy the DVD's from Earth stores and take them back to the mansion. It was a lot easier then seeking out the alternative route of legally copying the movies (and special features) into the Smash System's database.
A few more seconds pass and suddenly the speakers roar into life as the machine loads a THX advertisement, spooking Lloyd, Shiek, and Colette into jumping and sending small handfuls of their popcorn into the air.
"Relax guys! Its just the audio," Falco says, snickering to himself.
"But, its so loud...like its coming from everywhere." Lloyd comments.
"It technically is. Each lounge is equipped with an 8.4 surround sound system, for complete audio immersion." Meta explains, gesutring towards the speakers hanging from the ceiling.
"8.4? Audio immersion?" Colette parrots.
"Its a fancy way of saying the sound you hear matches with the movie. Like if someone on the left makes a noise, you hear that noise more on your left then the right." Falco explains, "The 8.4 refers to the number of speakers, we've got eight normal speakers; one in each corner of the room and another between them, plus four subwoofers in the walls for the really deep sounds."
"But that's twelve." Lloyd states.
"A subwoofer only counts as point-one of a speaker." Falco answers, "Don't ask me why, this is just an improved version of the Earth's 5.1 system; and they classify subwoofers as point-one of a speaker."
The two Sylvaranti quiet down, now somewhat fascinated by the DVD's main menu; as is the rest of the audience.
"Star Wars Episode Four, A New Hope?" Sonic asks, reading the title from the screen. "What's this?"
"Some really good movie judging by the preview I watched in the movie library. Its also really popular back on Earth judging by the huge franchise it spawned."
"Why are we watching Epsiode Four first?" Blaze asks. "Shouldn't we start with One?"
"I would've, but according the info-card for this movie, its better to watch Four, then Five, then Six, and then go One-Two-Three. They were kinda designed and filmed in that order."
Meta sighs, grumbling something about "humans being so strange" under his breath.
Well, all concerns quickly vanish as the movie starts playing. From the opening scene and the deep rumbling as a Star Destroyer flies by, to the nick-of-time escape from the Death Star, to the nail-biting "trench scene," the entire movie blows away any expectations of the smashers and leaves a great impression.
"Woo!" Sonic cheers as the credits start rolling, "Aw man that was awesome!"
"I know! I've pulled off plenty of dangerous stunts in Lylat, but that Luke kid almost bested me!" Falco adds.
"And those lightsaber duels!" Lloyd adds, "Those are almost as cool as my swords!"
"I liked the whole thing!" Colette cheers.
"What about that Darth Vader guy?" Meta asks, his voice actually carrying a tone of interest. "Can't find anyone that cold on Popstar."
"Yea, but Han Solo totally owned him with a couple well-aimed laser blasts!" Mew replies, flying cartwheels in the room.
Once the crowd settles down, everyone takes a minute to stretch and move around while Mew flies off to fetch a few more bowls of popcorn. "Hey Sonic? I could've sworn I've heard something in your neck of the woods that's a lot like that Death Star." Falco states.
"How can you forget about the Eclipse Cannon? Shadow blasted you with it in a match today." Sonic replies. "I suppose its similar, but the Space Colony its a part of is more of a research base than a battle station. Plus, it needs all seven Chaos Emeralds to actually reach that level of power."
"What's a Chaos Emerald?" Colette curiously asks.
"Seven jewels of ancient origins and great power. Those guys cause quite a bit of trouble on Mobius, but I need them to turn into Super Sonic."
"How often does that happen?" Lloyd asks.
"More than you'd think..." Sonic sighs. "What about you? Got any sort of super items like them on Sylvarant?"
"Nothing springs to mind...I suppose the Summon Spirits might count, by they aren't items..." Lloyd replies, doing his best to recollect everything about his adventures back home.
"I don't think so...Cruxis Crystals kinda count, but they aren't as powerful." Collete adds.
"Cruxis Crystals?" Shiek parrots. "What are those?"
"This is one," Colette replies, pointing at her necklace. "Not only does this mark me as a chosen, but it also lets me create my chakrams and sprout wings. Only angels like Lloyd and I can use them though..."
"Hmm, well Hyrule has plenty of powerful, ancient relics and objects lying around, but they're usually hidden away in old temples and caves so nobody really knows how many there are." Shiek replies, closing her eyes and leaning back in the chair.
"Dream Land doesn't have much of those...just a small handful of weapons that Kirby and I can use." Meta adds, shuffling a little on his perch.
"If Lylat does have any fancy, oogy-boogy items I haven't found or heard of 'em." Falco states. "We're more of a technological race than an ancient, mystical one."
"What about Pokenoa Lucario?" Lloyd asks.
"Nothing I've ever heard of. There are items that increase a Pokemon's power if they hold it, but those are fairly common."
"Well, in addition to the Chaos Emeralds, there are also the Sol Emeralds." Blaze states, "They're a lot like the Chaos Emeralds, but work a little differently and can cause a violent reaction if brought too close to a Chaos Emerald."
Sonic nods, "And then add in the Master Emerald which can negate the power of Chaos and Sol emeralds, and you've got a ton of powerful jewels."
"Wow, you've got a lot of things to keep track of." Colette comments.
Sonic and Blaze laugh, "Yea, we do." They both say. "It doesn't help that all but the Master Emerald have a tendency to hide all over the world." Sonic adds.
"Ugh, makes me grateful for the tech of Lylat. I'd go crazy having to search all over the world time and time again." Falco groans, just as the last FBI warning of the movie ends and the main menu loads.
A second after that, Mew comes in with three more bowls of popcorn. "Alright guys, make this last. Pit almost went insane after hearing how much popcorn we made tonight."
"What?" Shiek asks in disbelief. "But there are like, fifty bags in the pantries on any given day."
"Yea well, I tried that. Pit responded with a badly aimed tackle so I got out of there." Mew replies, "Here, this is all that I managed to make before getting attacked."
Mew psychically moves two of the bowls to Falco and Colette, placing the last bowl between Lucario and Blaze while reclaiming his perch on the couch.
Episode Five passes by in about an hour, leaving the audience impressed, but mostly dumb-struck.
"No way is Vader telling the truth." Lucario states, "He has to be lying...there's just no way."
"What kind of father would cut his son's hand off?" Lloyd adds, "At least Luke got away with his life."
"Yes now hurry up Falco!" Meta impatiently yells, " Start the next episode!"
"There's only so fast these machines can load, yelling won't help." Falco flatly replies.
Meta grunts and crosses his arms (err, gloves).
A few minutes pass before the next movie finishes loading and starts. By its end an hour or so later, all the friends are cheering; the Empire is beaten, the Emperor is dead, and Darth Vader redeemed himself.
"Now that's how you end a trilogy!" Falco proclaims. "Oh man that was awesome...I loved when the Falcon was flying away from the explosion in the Darth Star, I've never done anything like that before."
"I'm liking how those Ewoks beat those giant machines with logs, ropes, and axes." Lloyd remarks. "Goes to show you, technology doesn't always ensure victory."
"Personally, I like the party those Ewoks threw when the Rebels won." Sonic comments. "Those are the kind of celebrations I like, small and fun."
"You don't like large parties Sonic?" Meta asks, sounding interested; like it was something he assumed he enjoyed.
"Hey I like those too, but I prefer a smaller party...just my friends and I goofing around and having a good time." The hedgehog sighs, "That's the best."
"I'll agree with ya there." Falco states, "Everytime my team does something that saves Corneria, we have to go through this ridiculuosly large celebration...at least the five or six of us throw ourselves a smaller party afterwards aboard the Great Fox...those are always fun."
"You've got a point, a small party with just your friends is pretty nice." Colette states, her eyes half-shut from a combination of sleepiness and nostalgia. "We've got to go through the large ones every now and then, since we saved Sylvarant and Tethe'alla twice and those are a lot of fun sometimes, but I still prefer being with all my friends, right Lloyd?"
The swordsman mumbles an agreement through a yawn.
"I'm with all of you, those large gatherings are annoying." Blaze sourly states, "I've had to deal with so many that I'm sick of 'em. What about you?" she asks, turning to Lucario.
The pokemon shifts his glance elsewhere. "No preference," he mumbles, "If you'll excuse me." He stands up and leaves...with his tail drooping behind him. Mew sighs before following after him
His friend watch him walk away for a second before Sheik face-palms. "Blast it, we completely forgot!" she exclaims. Sonic, Falco, and Meta all groan while shaking their heads, but Colette, Lloyd, and Blaze all look confused.
"Forgot what?" Lloyd asks.
"Well, you three have to realize something...Lucario doesn't get treated the same way we do." Shiek states. "We all get to enjoy these parties and gatherings with music and good food...he doesn't."
"What do you mean? Aren't we all heroes?" Colette asks.
"In the context of the mansion and our fellow smashers, yes Lucario is just as much of a hero as you or me. In the context of his home...not in the slightest."
"But going off the stories I heard, Lucario was one of the most powerful, vigilant fighters against the Subspace Army...why isn't he treated like a hero?"
"You didn't even know about the Subspace Army until you came here." Shiek states, "That's because Master Hand didn't want us telling our homes about this super-powerful dark army that almost got loose; mainly to avoid causing a panic. No-one on Pokenoa, save Pikachu, Jigglypuff, and Red and his pokemon knew about what happened, so Lucario still retains his "wild pokemon" status when on his home."
"Wild pokemon?" Colette repeats.
"A term that pokemon trainers use to label a pokemon that hasn't been caught by a trainer yet. If a wild pokemon should be caught in a trainer's pokeball, that pokemon becomes part of that trainer's team and can't be caught by a second trainer." Meta explains, "Lucario has the burden of being a wild pokemon, so any trainer that crosses his path is almost guaranteed to battle him with their pokemon in the hopes of weakening Lucario enough for a capture."
"To sum it up, Lucario is attacked by the people on his homeworld while we get honored." Sonic states. "That's about all Lucario has or will tell us about his life back home...so here we are, talking about all the parties and celebrations that we get to enjoy, while Lucario's virtually persecuted wherever he goes."
"Oh...has Luca been to any party?" Colette asks, her heart filling with guilt.
"Apart from the one after we beat the Subspace Army and the one at the end of Brawl, I seriously doubt it." Falco answers before glancing to the couch, "Hey, where'd Blaze go?"
"Lucario!" Blaze calls, hurrying after the pokemon that is several feet ahead of her.
The tall pokemon stops and turns around, curiously watching Blaze as she stops in front of him; Mew floating by his shoulder.
"Lucario, I...umm...want to..."
"Don't apologize, you didn't know." Lucario says.
"No, I...You told me that you wander across Pokenoa and now I understand why."
"The others explain things?"
Blaze nods. "And I feel a little bad for...for remarking on things I take for granted, but you can't even experience..."
"Blaze, I said its alright. You didn't know when you commented, so..."
"Yea I get it...it just doesn't make me feel any better." She pauses, "Umm...would it be alright if I walked back to the suites with you?"
Lucario gives the princess a smile before offering his hand. Blaze gently grasps it in her own and walks beside the pokemon around the last few corners before they arrived in the foyer.
Even though its barely a minute walk, it feels like an eternity to Blaze because of how lost she is in his hand's warmth. It isn't like any warmth she felt from someone else...even though its just naturally venting aura, the warmth is so comforting that the princess almost drops off to sleep in the foyer.
"Hey Blaze?" Lucario asks, snapping the feline out of her trance.
"Yes?"
"I...I hope that...never mind."
"No, go on...what is it?"
The pokemon sighs, "Now that you've learned so much about me, is this going to color your opinion of me?"
"What?!" Blaze asks in disbelief, "Of course it won't! Why would you even think that?!"
"I...I'm just being stupid." Lucario mutters, "Forgive my distrust, but I...I've been mistreated many times in the past."
"Lucario..." Blaze whispers, her eyes full of care and understanding. "I understand."
She's getting to look at a new side of Lucario right now. Before he's been cool, confident, and sure of himself...now his voice is shaky, and his eyes are nervously watching her. He isn't all confidence...right now he's vulnerable, unsure, maybe even scared. Blaze didn't find that unappealing in the least, with Lucario, it almost made her want to cuddle him; hold him and say that everything is alright.
Of course, being...herself...Blaze doesn't cuddle her friend, but she does draw him into a light hug. "Lucario, I'm not going to stop trusting you or stop being your friend until you give me a reason not to, okay?"
The pokemon lightly puts his own arms around the princess while whispering, "Thanks" into her ear. I just hope you're making the right choice...
"I know this is going to sound odd but...can you walk me to my room?" Blaze shyly asks, "After this...I don't want to go on my own just yet."
"Alright," Lucario says, breaking the hug, "Lets go..."
The two finish their trek up the staircase and down the halls to the suites, Mew following along behind them. The tiny pokemon heaves a sigh, "I've tried, Falco's tried, and Sonic's tried...I hope she can finally draw you out of your shell...for both of your sakes."
Perhaps I should give a revised disclaimer here. Since I mentioned Star Wars and various elements of it; I do not own any portion of the Star Wars franchise, they are all owned by George Lucas and his various companies. This also applies to Lucario, Falco, and all of the other characters that appear in this chapter; I do not own them either as they are owned by their appropriate companies.
I must admit, it was quite fun writing the "first experience" of Star Wars for these characters. Its also fun poking fun at the FBI warnings; I know they are important and I'd never break any of them, but they're still irritating since you can't fast-forward through or skip over them like other previews. Also, yes...for whatever reason a subwoofer really is classified as 0.1 of a speaker system. I don't know why, but it is...at least now you know why its called 5.1 surround sound.