Chapter Twenty-One: Nintendog House
Villager and Jazz slumped down together on one of the benches placed around the 3DS Grounds. After a long, grueling day of training against Pit and Olimar, with each taking a turn against each trainer, and then against each other, they were worn out, tired, hungry, and worst of all, dejected. After Samus had left, she had never returned. As they continued to fight and train, they started to win more often, but their wins were still vastly overshadowed by their losses.
"What are we going to do?" Villager asked, breathing heavily.
Jazz put her head in her hands, massaging at a headache. "I don't know," she said.
"You don't think Samus would kick us out, do you?"
Jazz shook her head. "I don't think so," she said, "Not with the threat of villains at our gate."
The sounds of a conversation met their ears. They looked up to see Toon Link walking towards them, back in his iconic green tunic, accompanied by a young man who looked almost identical to him who was now wearing his old engineer's uniform. As they approached, the other person walked off towards the Spirit Train, giving a quick wave back to his doppelganger. Toon Link continued on the path toward them, limping slightly, but otherwise walking just fine. He didn't even have his crutches today.
"Hey, guys," he said as he approached, "How was training?"
Jazz leaned her head back. "Do you really want to know?"
Toon Link looked at them sympathetically. "That bad, huh?"
Villager rested his hands on his knees. "We tried so hard to make a good impression and we failed," he said, "We wanted to prove we were good enough to be here. We wanted to be able to contribute to this fight, but I think Samus thinks we're a lost cause."
"Well, Samus is a tough nut to crack," he said, "but she knows combat better than any of us. I'd wager she's probably been through more than most of us here. Almost everyone she has ever cared about has been killed in action. Because of that, she can be cold and stern, but she's also very careful and meticulous in everything she does. That's something we need right now."
Villager and Jazz looked at him but didn't say anything.
"Look," he said, sitting down next to them, "The first few weeks of training are tough for every newcomer. At least you haven't been called a cheap knockoff of someone else. Just try to make a comeback from that, because I'll tell you, it's not easy. For a while there, I was afraid I wouldn't be invited back this year."
Villager and Jazz remained silent. Toon Link sighed.
"Alright," he said, "You two, come with me. I think it's time you saw my favorite new stage."
He stood and started limping away. He turned back to see them still on the bench. "Well, come on. Don't make have to show you the reason the Helmaroc King trembles at the mere mention of my name."
Villager and Jazz looked at each other and shrugged. They stood and followed him. He led them through the 3DS Grounds all the way to the far end. He stopped at a massive building that looked like an ordinary house but at ten times the scale. Villager had seen houses just like it back in Animal Crossing.
"Through here," Toon Link said, opening a small access door next to the ordinary door. The three stepped through into pitch blackness. Toon Link flipped a switch, lighting up the stage. Villager and Jazz gasped as they looked around to see that they were standing in a massive, open, fully furnished house strewn with a number of books and toys littered all over the floor.
Toon Link put his fingers in his mouth and whistled. "Here, Epona!"
A loud jingling met their ears as a gigantic Jack Russell Terrier puppy loped around the corner, heading straight for the group. Its tail wagged, slamming into walls with tremendous force as it went, while its ten foot tongue flopped up and down through the air, flinging gallons of saliva everywhere.
"Good boy, Epona," Toon Link said, "Come to daddy."
"Epona?" Villager asked, "Isn't that Link's horse?"
"Yeah, well, I didn't get a horse," Toon Link replied, "So I get to use the name however I darn well please."
"Okay," Villager mumbled. "Come here, Epona," he said. He'd always had an affinity with animals, which was probably the reason he had moved to an entire town full of them. At first a little timid, he reached up and scratched the dog's nose, while the massive canine simply lapped up the attention.
"Yes, you're a good boy, aren't you," he said in his high-pitched talking-to-dogs voice. "Hey, Jazz, come check this out."
He turned to see Jazz standing as far from the dog as she could. "What's the matter? You aren't afraid of dogs, are you?"
Jazz looked at him incredulously. "No, no, no, I'm not afraid of dogs. I don't like dogs. Humongous monster dogs, that's a different story."
"Don't worry," Toon Link said, "He's perfectly tame. Nothing to be afraid of."
Jazz swallowed and stepped forward a little, extending her hand. "Good boy," she said, shaking, "Good monster. Please don't eat me."
The puppy nuzzled her pale palm, sniffing it. Jazz seemed to relax.
"See," Villager said, "Nothing to worry about."
Without warning, the dog's wet, slobbery tongue spilled out of its mouth and smothered her in a particularly juicy puppy kiss. Jazz remained frozen in horror, now covered in a nice thick layer of oozing doggie drool.
Villager and Toon Link tried in vain to hold back their laughter. Jazz slowly turned her head toward them. "You know what," she said, taking a step toward them, "You two are such great friends, you deserve a nice big hug." She spread her dripping arms wide and came after them.
"Uh oh," Villager said, "We're in trouble now, Toon Link."
"Run, Villager, run!" Toon Link shouted.
The two ran off through the dog's playhouse, pursued by a slimy Wii Fit Trainer and a cheerful puppy happy to have some playmates. As they ran through the playhouse and up over some oversized books, they looked back to see Jazz struggling to maintain her traction while pursuing them.
Villager laughed, then turned to run smack into someone's painfully firm gut and fall to the floor dazed. He sat up and blinked to see a tall, physically fit man with dark curly hair and pale skin just like Jazz's.
"Oops, sorry about that, little guy," the man said.
Villager stood with some help from Toon Link. "Who are you?" he asked. He looked back to see that Jazz had stopped chasing them and now stood frozen and was looking at the man like he was something disgusting she had found in her bathtub. The newcomer grinned when he saw her.
"Hey, babe," he said, pushing Villager and Toon Link out of the way and wrapping his arm around her shoulder. From the look on her face, Villager had the feeling she was only allowing him to touch her like that so as to let him get the remaining dog drool all over him. "I figured you might be getting lonely out here, so I put in an application to join you. Keep you safe, you know."
Jazz looked at him with visible irritation on her face. "Gee, thanks," she said, although she clearly wanted to say something else, "It's so great to have you here, Garrett."