Author's Disclaimer: I do not own Super Smash Bros or any of the characters involved in it. I am earning no profit from this story, other than the enjoyment of writing it and sharing it with others! I hope you all enjoy reading it!
But then, footsteps could be heard rushing down the long hallway. Everyone stood up expectantly. Link and Zelda shared a hopeful Link paused in his firing. Everyone playing cards stared down the hall, exchanging apprehensive looks.
"We got them!" Shulk announced, walking down the hall triumphantly.
Everyone cheered. Toon Link hugged Link and Zelda. The card players dropped their cards and happily high-fived each other. Bowser laughed out loud. His kids embraced each other excitedly.
"Most of them are in my bag," Shulk went on. "And Palutena's got the weapons. Come on!" He walked past all the excited fighters, and up the stairs. Everyone followed him. Shulk led his entourage up into his room. Not even close to everyone fit. They formed a line of sorts to retrieve their equipment and pick up an orb. Each person was instructed to not smash the orb until they were standing before Master Hand and Crazy Hand. That fight would have to wait for another day. Everyone was tired from their intense waiting.
Link was last in line, just behind Young Link. Link watched the younger hero claim his powerful mask. His face was a mix of apprehension and happiness. He took it gingerly from Palutena. "I never thought I'd be happy to see this thing," he muttered, mostly to himself. He shoved the mask in his inventory bag, which he also gotten back, along with his Hookshot, Longshot, Fairy Bow, Boomerang, and a long, long list of other weapons he had found during his adventures in Hyrule and Termina.
Link claimed his own inventory bag, filled with mostly pointless ingredients for cooking or making elixirs. The only useful things he would get out of the bag were the different kinds of arrows he kept in there; fire arrows, ice arrows, electric arrows, bomb arrows, and a few Ancient Arrows. Shulk handed him a power orb. Link placed it in his bag, careful not to break it.
Shulk sighed contentedly, seeing that no one else was waiting and he had no more orbs to hand out. He placed one in his inventory bag gently. "We did it," he said to no one, hiding his bag in his closet underneath his pile of arena outfits.
"We did," Palutena agreed, getting up to leave.
"Well done," Link congratulated, nodding to them both.
"It wasn't that hard," Shulk shrugged. "It only took us five minutes to find the stuff. Master Hand didn't bother to hide it, since he didn't expect us to ever get in."
"Do you think he'll notice it's gone?" Link questioned.
Shulk sucked in a nervous breath. "It is a possibility, but I wouldn't count on it."
"Yeah, the drawer with all of our weapons was so unused it had cobwebs covering it," Palutena added.
"And as for the orbs, he's got so many of those things he'd never notice he's missing seventy four of them," Shulk explained.
"He just stuck all of our weapons in one drawer?" Link inquired.
"A huge drawer," Shulk elaborated. "Everything in that room was supersized. Makes sense, considering his size relative to us."
Link nodded thoughtfully.
"The hardest part was getting the stupid drawers open and then figuring out how to carry all that stuff," Palutena went on.
"Once we found my bag and emptied it of all the useless stuff I had in there, I could carry all of the orbs, but I was out of space for the weapons," Shulk continued.
"I was able to carry the weapons using magic, though," Palutena finished.
"You should have used my bag," Link stated. "It can carry an infinite amount of materials. However, it can only hold a certain amount of weapons."
"We didn't know which was yours," Shulk reminded Link. "And we had no idea how much any of those bags could carry. Young Link's seems to be able to hold whatever he needs."
Link nodded. "Have you put any thought into when we will be taking down Master Hand and Crazy Hand?"
"Not yet," Shulk admitted. "Today was stressful enough for all of us, I think. I figured Robin, Zelda, and I would discuss that tomorrow at breakfast."
"Sounds like a plan," Palutena agreed. "I'm going to grab something from the fridge. Anyone else coming? I doubt anyone ate anything all day."
"Pit did," Link stated.
"Oh no," Palutena sighed. "I should've told him not to! I forget what a stress eater that angel is!"
"He'll be fine," Shulk snickered. "I've seen him eat more than what he weighs and recover by the next day."
"How much did he eat?" Palutena asked hesitantly.
"I believe three whole pizzas," Link answered truthfully.
Palutena rolled her eyes. "Good heavens. Well, I'm sure he's full at least. But I'm still hungry." She got up to head downstairs.
"I'm coming," Shulk decided, following her.
"As am I," Link added.
It seemed that everyone in the mansion had had the same idea. The fighters were all crowding around the refrigerator, desperately trying to get any food before it all ran out. The robots were doing their best to restock it as it continually became empty. Young Link, Toon Link, and Zelda were already seated with a plate of food. Toon Link was whining about Zelda making him eat vegetables.
Link decided he'd wait for everyone to clear out before he got into the fridge. He wasn't that hungry. He sat down besides Young Link and Zelda.
"Are you going to eat, Link?" Zelda asked him.
"After everyone else," Link replied.
"You're going to wait?" Young Link cried. "Boy, I'm starving! I didn't even have any lunch!"
"Well, you could've," Zelda scolded him gently. "You sat and watched Pit eat all day."
"He wasn't going to share!" Young Link scoffed. "I asked for some. Even said 'please!'"
"Pit doesn't have to eat vegetables," Toon Link pointed out, staring despondently at the four pieces of broccoli remaining on his plate.
"Pit is an angel," Zelda reminded the young Hylian. "I doubt he could get fat if he tried."
"He does try," Young Link sneered.
Toon Link giggled.
Zelda held back a laugh.
Cloud joined them, his plate loaded with chips and fried chicken. He held a glass of soda in his right hand. Toon Link stared longingly at his food. "What?" Cloud asked.
"You don't have broccoli!" Toon Link exclaimed angrily.
"I'm sure there wasn't any left," Zelda said quickly. "I'm sure Cloud would have gotten some if he could. Isn't that right?"
"Er, yeah," Cloud agreed. "Broccoli is good. They were just out, that's all."
Toon Link scowled.
Zelda sighed. "In any case, can we agree that today went perfectly well?"
There was a general nodding of heads from around the table.
"Finally, a plan that worked," Young Link added.
"We are not free yet," Link pointed out.
"Aw, come on, Mr. Negative!" Cloud laughed. "This is the closest to being free we've ever been!"
"Yes," Zelda agreed. "Now all we have to do is plan when the optimal time for the final fight will be, inform everyone, and carry it out."
"Which will be easier said than done," Link stated.
"Why are you such a party pooper?" Young Link sneered. "With the power things on our side, plus the Fierce Deity and whoever I decide to give my Golden Gauntlets, how could we possibly lose?"
Cloud opened his mouth to add on, but the group suddenly noticed an ominous silence had settled over everyone else. A few seconds ago, the room had been filled with lively, triumphant chatter. Now, all was quiet. Link spun around. Master Hand was hovering in the air, surveying all the fighters. Quickly, Link, Cloud, Zelda, Young Link, and Toon Link got out of their chairs and bowed.
But it was a halfhearted bow from all of them. They knew it would be one of the last times they would have to bow before their captor. Young Link did not quiver in fury as he always did. Instead, a malevolent smile spread across his face. Cloud barely bowed his head, when he normally almost tucked his chin into his neck. Toon Link didn't let go of Zelda's hand as he was supposed to.
But Master Hand wasn't paying attention to any of their small forms of rebellion. He seemed angry, which made everyone nervous. "You all are eating dinner much later than usual, I see," he stated.
"There was…" someone began.
"I don't care why," Master Hand snapped. "Not like it matters to me. I am here to inform you all that a new contestant will be joining our games in three short weeks. She's not what I had hoped for, but she'll do. As always, talk amongst yourselves and decide who will be responsible for filling out my list of questions for them. And no red potions will be given to them. Understand?"
Everyone nodded.
"Dismissed," Master Hand finished, returning to his office with a snap.
Everyone stood up, the day's victory wiped off their faces. They all looked to Shulk, Zelda, or Robin to see if the plan was going to be changed. The trio locked eyes and silently made their way upstairs to discuss the complication.