Hello everyone, EndlessCreativity here once again. Apologies for the late chapter despite my attempts to sticking with a schedule. I had to adjust to my new classes and staying at home a lot more. That and I did have artist's and writer's block for a while during December and a bit into January. But I managed to shake it off!

Reader Shoutout:

To Nicoliiie, thank you so much for enjoying the last chapter! I am really glad that you are liking the story!

Please enjoy!

Disclaimer: Super Smash Bros. belongs to Masahiro Sakurai.

Chapter 2:

Looks Like It Is Going To Be A Long Road Ahead

The sun shone from above as it promised a day without rain or disaster. There was a cliff that stood so proudly next to its blue companion: the ocean. Below the cliff, the ocean waves lapped gently over and over again. On the meadows of the cliff, the flowers swayed too and fro in a peaceful rhythm. Ah yes, this day would definitely be a wonderful day.

And on this day stood a young boy with his father and grandfather. They had been living their lives to the fullest after the tragedy that struck the family all those years ago.

In front of them were two gravestones, each given a bouquet of sunflowers as an offering. One of the gravestones was starting to decay slightly, being placed three years before the other one. Yet the most beautiful sunflowers were blooming around the beaten gravestone. The second gravestone, while not as beaten or decaying, stood rather proudly as vines gently wrapped around it.

One of the visitors sighed sadly. It had been a long time since the passing of his dearly beloved. He could barely begin to comprehend how much time has passed since he saw his mother and brother. He really missed their loving embraces, their smiles and laughter, and he missed their presences as well.

Sometimes Lucas was surprised the world did not fully break him yet.

A dove suddenly cooed, getting the attention of the young boy. It flew around his head before landing on the older gravestone as they all watched. The dove looked flustered and seemed rather excited to see Lucas. He looked closely at the small, gray bird and saw that there was a letter tied around its neck. On the letter was a sealed stamp with a design that was all too familiar to him.

Lucas felt his body start to shake as he hoped for the best and quickly reached out. The dove landed on his hand and started to hop closer to him. Once the letter was in his hand, the dove immediately went to his shoulder, nuzzling his head.

"Lucas?", the firm but gentle voice of his father, Flint, called out. But the boy's full attention was on the letter in front of him.

The contents in the letter were as shown:

"Congratulations Smash Veteran, You have been invited to the 5th Annual Super Smash Tournament! If you are ready and are willing to come this year, please prepare yourself and be ready to be picked up around 8 am in your universe's/dimension time code. No later than that, we will leave if you are late. Thank you!"

Lucas blinked several times before he reread the contents of the letter to be sure that he was not hallucinating or that his PSI powers were taking a toll on his physical capacities. After reading it for the umteemth time, he looked back at the graves and let out a soft, small smile. He was going to go back for a third time...Lucas could feel his joy growing.

The young boy turned around, "I'm invited to the Smash Tournaments again!"

"Huh, no way!" Alec coughed his surprise while Flint merely smiled at the wonderful news.

His son would be going to the place where he belonged. Flint remembered when Lucas first got the letter.

...

It had been about six months after Claus's death and the dragon's awakening. The civilians of Tazmily Village were almost done rebuilding their village. And while the folks were not as happy or carefree as they used to be, they were all the more wiser now. Since Kumatora and Duster were helping the citizens, Lucas took time to talk with Fuel and Nana while walking Boney. A dove had seemingly come out of nowhere and perched peacefully on Lucas's head.

The boy had jumped and panicked at first, surprised that the bird suddenly landed on his hair. That was, until Nana pointed out that there was a letter with a weird drawing around the dove's neck.

Curious, Lucas calmed down and gently extended his arm for the dove to perch on. After the dove got settled on his hand, it hopped a couple of times. At first, the children thought that maybe it was going to talk or do something spectacular. Though following the hopping, the dove managed to get the tied letter off of its neck and in its mouth.

It then fluffled up its feathers and bowed its head while extending the letter towards Lucas. Who in turn, cautiously grabbed the letter and put the dove on his shoulder. Fuel, Nana, and Boney were immediately at Lucas's sides as the boy shakingly opened the letter.

A few moments later, Flint and Alec later heard the children's excited yells with Boney's barking as they returned towards the village's new foundations.

…

And after that, well...everything else was history. Lucas went to the 3rd-Smash Gathering in sad tears but returned with the biggest smile on his face. It greatly warmed Flint's heart knowing that Lucas was still able to enjoy life whenever he could. Especially after having to bear responsibility and go through so much in a couple of years. He was still too young. Lucas should be enjoying his youth and living his years learning how to live life to the fullest.

And that was all he wanted: for his son to be happy.

A deep breath took Flint out his thoughts as he watched his son recollect himself and wipe away his tears.

Lucas took another deep breath. It would soon be time to come back to his other home.

"Mom, Claus. I'm going back to the Smash Gatherings!"

Lucas swore he felt his mother and brother's presence.

The scenematic portal was beautiful but it did little to calm Orange's nerves as she watched the colors go by.

Orange felt her stomach go uneasy again. Her mind attempted to be empty but one thought brought a thousand more. She started fidgeting with her hands in a restless rhythm. The ends of her tentacles gripped her shirt and started to twist.

And Blue opened his mouth to say something but then Meelow cut him off.

"Hey, Sis…", Orange turned to look at Meelow, who had an unusually serious face, "Don't worry, there's plenty of time to enjoy yourself and have fun. This time, we're going somewhere new and...there will be no secrets. You're starting off fresh this time...pun intended~."

Orange took one good look into his eyes and nodded, an unsure feeling going into her stomach as she bit her lips. Meelow had a small, gentle small and ruffled the top of her head, making her laugh.

Shortly after, she let out a yawn. Letting out all of her tears made her really tired. Orange wanted to see the first destination but her eyelids felt heavier than usual.

Out of old habits, Meelow started to lean back into the booth. His muscles relaxed as he felt Orange shift her position to rest her head on his leg. And just like that, she was asleep within a few seconds. It had been a few years since they did this. He remembered when she was a little squidling. She was the cutest little squishy thing he had ever seen. That was, until his siblings came along.

Blue gave Meelow a dirty look for cutting him off before having the chance to talk. Meelow quickly shot him a death-glare while slightly raising his thin frame with a low vibrational growl, which immediately silenced the younger inkling. But not before sending a furious glare at the oldest inkling.

Good. It would do Blue a favor to know when and where the right time to speak is. The boy sometimes didn't know how to read the atmosphere at times, which was something he needed to work on. It had gotten him into trouble before. And of course, being the leader (and the occasional big brother) of his team, Meelow had to get him out of certain situations.

Once he was sure Blue would not try to speak out of impulse, Meelow once again sank back into the booth. He felt his shoulders and back start to stiffen out of stress and pressure of the trip. Sometimes being the eldest came with a lot of responsibilities that not too many Inklings wanted. Looking out for everyone's mental, physical, and emotional health (including his own), pray that nothing bad happens to any members of the team, setting the better example for the younger generation, taxes, jobs, and a bunch of other adult stuff that in the end, really didn't make sense to Meelow.

Sure, he may be twenty-four, but that was nothing compared to how long other Cepha-lings and other sea creatures have lived. Everyone is living a different life, Meelow was all too familiar with this. He was born deaf. Never given the chance to hear more of the beautiful sounds of the world he was born into.

Well, maybe he could have heard more of it if he had taken better care of the hearing aide he received as a gift of gratitude. Now he will never hear what the Smash Fighters sound like as well. Or hear his teammates happy cries with their future friends during the tournaments or celebrations. Meelow felt his tentacles curl out of despair and his free hand gripped the leather seat in rage.

The rage that he felt almost brought tears to his eyes until he felt Cupcake's stare. She was giving him the 'look', despite her hair covering her eyes. At this, he took a deep breath and felt sleep hanging heavily at his eyelids.

Might as well enjoy a good nap before meeting the fighters.

And just like that, he crashed into the world of dreams.

"All passengers on board! Please be prepared to welcome and meet the New Fighter joining us soon!"

Blue woke up with a start.

"What the shell!", He had a great dream until he was rudely awakened. While fuming slighly, he felt something soft slowly fall.

Blue looked down. On his lower figure was a pastel green blanket.

"Huh."

Even the others had blankets on them. All with a different pastel-like color.

Speaking of color, the scenery outside looked darker and more solid. There seemed to be what looked like buildings.

Blue quickly came to a conclusion.

They were in another dimension.

The city looked much like Inkopolis, only less...flashy? In fact, it looked pretty…

Depressing. There were no flashing colors, no happy music blasting in the background, hardly any colorful buildings and nobody was in sight. Maybe she was wrong, after all it was night time in the dimension. The city could be more joyous in the morning.

But before she let her thoughts wander any more a group of shadows came out from hiding. All of them unseeable, but if one were to guess there were probably about seven figures (maybe eight) coming out. Though Orange could see that they were taller than the Inking group. After all, they look a bit like Moray Towers on a good day.

Like the Inklings, the group also said farewell with hugs, fists bumps and possibly words of encouragement. Afterwards, one of the figures started walking towards the train. The way that the figure was walking was slightly slouching and with a hidden sass in their stride.

When the figure was close, something shot out from the dark but Orange paid it no mind.

It was probably a rat-except slightly bigger.

The Conductor had already opened the door and happily greeted them. Although, she saw the taller figure jump from surprise at first before they both bowed.

Orange wondered how the Conductor's hands worked if he had no fingers or thumbs.

"Welcome, young sirs! I do hope that you find your time at the 5th Annual Smash Gathering a wonderful delight!"

...Wait, 'sirs'? But there's only one person-or entity, whatever-that got on the train? How can there be more than one? Orange did not see anyone other than the Mii Conductor and the taller figure.

"Thank you, I'm sure we will," the owner of the newcomer said as they got on. And from the tone of the voice, they sound young and are most likely a dude. A young man who would probably be a young teenager or adult at most. Maybe he was a Smash Veteran-

"Meowww!" A ...cat? On all fours? It had jumped on the top of the booth seats and looked around. Eventually its eyes landed on the Inklings. It then turned around to the front door and started to bounce in place. Creating all kinds of cute cat noises.

"Mow! Mrrow! Meooooow! Meorrrrrw!" Orange could only stare in confusion at this small feline. Since when were cats this energetic? And what has this cat gotten excited about? Was this the Smasher that would be facing against her and her team?

"Alright, alright Morgana. I'm coming, and what do you mean by 'actual furries-slash-scalies'?"

The shadow that was outside was not a weird deity with multiple heads (although that would have been cool). But instead, a tall, young man who looked oddly like an inkling-minus the pointy ears-and much taller. His fluffy short hair and roundish glasses oddly matched the outfit he was wearing.

It had an odd aesthetic to it: a long-sleeved, red-buttoned, black blazer with a rather depressing school emblem was resting on his left chest (right from where she was sitting). Pants that were plaid with red, white, and what Orange guessed was onyx-colored, or dark-ish gray in simpler terms. Black leather shoes seemed to finish off the 'emo' look. That, and why was he wearing a white turtleneck?

It did not match his beautifully handsome face at all.

…

What?

Meelow being the ever friendly inkling, jumped up from his seat to greet the young teen.

"Heya! How are ya?"

The young human blinked at the eldest inkling in a calm surprise, eyebrows raised.

"Hehe, happy to meet you as well. My name's Ren Amimaya, and my fluffy companion who is jumping all over the place is Morgana. And you all are?"

Meelow merely reached his hand out with an ecstatic excitement.

"Meelow, you'll remember me soon enough! I'm the Inkling who doesn't shut up! You'll know what I mean in a few seconds! Now come on, I'll introduce you!"

Ren nearly fell over from the force of excitement that was Meelow as he half-dragged him to the group. He took a good look at the Inkling group as he got closer.

Boy, he would be lying if he said that they didn't look like a colorful group. Literally. The whole rainbow of colors must have been here.

There were what Ren assumed to be three ladies and two other male Inklings. They were rather intriguing and aesthetically appealing to admire. All of them had a varying aura, vibe, air, age, and even a varying weight to them. Each of them had a unique color for their 'hairs' and eyes, which made Ren jealous. He wishes he could change his hair color and back without ever worrying about ruining his young hair. (That, and the other aspect he cursed his human body for was flexibility).

As Ren came closer, most of the group jumped up to greet him. Especially the dark purple (or was it indigo?) and hot pink Inklings. The way they practically hopped from their seats just to greet him reminded him of Meelow. They both shook his hands at a rather rapid and hyper energy that Ren had to regain himself as Morgana jumped onto his shoulders snickering. The green and purple Inklings calmly introduced themselves, and then led the yellow Inkling to him. Right away, Ren subcounsciously knew that she was blind when she started tracing his face and was polite in introducing himself.

He also took note that this one twitched her ears a lot more than her friends. She also sniffed him from where she was standing, to which Morgana went to bump noses with her. She was calm, despite having a wet nose rub against her own. It made Ren wonder if Inklings have wet noses or not, he would have to ask either Meelow or Green. Seeing as how they don't seem like the types to be offended by a human's curiosity. And if the Inkling 'hair' was soft, squishy, and smooth to the touch.

The blue Inkling...well, Ren could tell he was trying a bit too hard to be polite without staring so much. He did offer a big, genuine smile to Ren when he introduced himself. Showing that he was not afraid to 'get out there' by any means. He was a bit stiff though; and seemed to zone out thinking of Ren's human heritage for at least two to three seconds before snapping out of it. All Ren could do was offer a fistbump in an attempt to break the ice. He knew that the kid was holding back some of the self-confidence that radiated before introductions.

One of the Inklings did not introduce themselves. Which was okay, Ren knew that not everyone would be able to introduce themselves right away. Just as he was about to put Morgana back in his bag-

"HUH! You have a cat?!"

All eyes turned to the corner of the seating booth. Or more specifically, the Inkling who was trying to hide herself into the train's side window by squishing herself. Ren could not take his eyes off of her as he watched the Cepaling attempt every possible way to make herself look smaller. Her natural orange scheme and outfit did not help her to blend in with the train's interior design at all.

Then again, she already stood out...um, ahem, weight wise.

"Wow," he started, his brain failing to come up with any proper words at the moment, "you are really squishy."

Immediately, the group sent him a warning look, making Ren recoil. It was agreed among the group that nobody has to mention anything about Orange's weight. That was one of the more meticulous details about her that she was highly subconscious of.

However, much to everyone's surprise, Orange just snorted as she tried to hold back laughing.

"You're not the first living creature to say that," the Inkling mused as she finally got her composure settled, "but you are the first human to say it to me."

This girl...she felt rather...friendly if Ren took a better look at her. Out of all of them, she looked the youngest-or at least, Ren assumed that much. She certainly did not look sleep-deprived as Meelow, Cupcake, or Boomer. It is either that, or she is good at hiding all of her worries and stress under her Inkling 'hair'.

Speaking of which, Ren wondered if the Inkling 'hair' was soft, squishy, and smooth to the touch. It was very tempting to reach out and see if his assumptions were right. Though, he held himself by scratching Morgana under his chin and petting his soft, luxurious, silky fur. Morgana only purred in response.

Maybe he can ask Meelow, considering that he looked like the oldest of the group. He seemed really friendly, maybe Ren could ask him for some advice on how to better his fighting techniques. Ren really could learn something new from all the Fighters he had and had not met. If that-no...when that happens, he could teach it to his friends. The Phantom Thieves could use some new techniques to resharpen their senses.

He wondered how old some of the Fighters were. Maybe they were around his age like the Inklings. Some might be wise beyond their years. He certainly hoped that there weren't any toddlers. Ren was not too sure how he was going to explain to his friends that he had to beat up babies-

Wait.

Does this mean Ren is going to call him 'Big Bro' the more he gets to know him?

"Lucas, come on! You really don't know what to pack?"

Rope Snake had never slithered so fast after word had spread that Lucas was invited to the Fifth Smash Gathering. He was so excited that he forgot to ask Duster if he would be alright when he goes! Then again, Duster was actually happy that Rope Snake was asked to be Lucas's companion, partner, amigo, and partner in crime once again. He was just glad that he could be of some use to somebody who was so young.

"I have an idea of what to bring...," Lucas started, "but I am wondering if I should bring more shirts, shorts, or Mr. Saturns?! They always ask if the entire village from our world can go…"

"THIS IS YOUR THIRD TIME GOING! I THOUGHT YOU WOULD KNOW!?"

Rope Snake threw up his tail and head in frustration as he fell back on the Boney shirt Lucas neatly folded (a gift from the Mr. Saturns. Rope Snake did not bother asking how the smart little creatures even designed the shirt given their lack of arms/hands). He really enjoyed going to the Smash Gatherings with Lucas. Even with some experience, Lucas could be indecisive when it comes to certain choices. Not that Rope Snake blamed him, Lucas was still a teenager (at least in their dimension, Ness's dimension is a different story). Rope Snake could do without some of the Fighters in Smash though. Especially Kirby and the youngest of Bowser's Koopa Kids. They were a real pain in the scales.

"Look, I will help you. Just take this, that, that, that, that-"

"BARK!"

"Not you! And this," Rope Snake lifted the shirt he was laying on seconds ago.

Boney had come over and made his presence known as he padded over and rested his head on Lucas's head. He whined as he saw the state of clothes all over the room. The young boy could only pet the dog in reassurance. Rope Snake huffed rather quickly and slithered up Lucas's arm.

"Lucas~", Rope Snake started as the boy looked at him eye-to-eye, "it'll be alright. Just pick out some of the stuff I randomly pointed out for you."

Lucas could only stare back at Rope Snake before averting his gaze to the mess that was in front of the trio. Rope Snake saw out of the corner of his eyes that Boney had heard something distinct. It was not long until the sound of a door opened and heavy footsteps made themselves known to the house. Boney rose up from the young boy's lap to go and greet his original owner. Rope Snake merely bowed his head in respect with a quick hello.

Lucas felt his neck hairs rise as his father's footsteps stopped echoing around the house. The house used to have a unique echo years ago when all five of them had a full house. Next thing they knew...it was just Lucas and Flint and Boney, then Lucas and Boney, then Lucas and Boney and Flint again. And soon, it would just be Flint and Boney again. It became routine after being invited by Master Hand and Crazy Hand. Though, it was not easy despite Lucas's frequent invite.

Lucas had a feeling that his dad wanted to talk or discuss something important with him; especially if he did not mention anything about the state of the room. The young boy shifted his position so that he was resting his head on his knee. There was nothing but silence and it slowly got thicker with each passing second. Lucas felt his mind buzzing with all kinds of scenarios and words that he would like to say to his dad. Yet, he subconsciously bit his tongue.

He did not know what to say to his dad.

Though, it would not be the first time that this kind of thing happened. The thick silence also happened after the Dragon woke up and restarted their world. Lucas could not quite forgive his dad for leaving him alone with Boney for three years, especially after his mother's death. Flashes of learning how to cope with all the negativity at a young age flashed through his mind. The mornings where his dad's absent presence would still haunt him for a year after Claus's death. Sometimes Lucas woke up and still expected his father to leave an empty bed. It was all a cruel reminder of what Lucas and his dad used to have in a much simpler time.

Lucas never fully forgave his father...but maybe he will understand what his dad went through if he ever has kids of his own in the future. Then maybe...just maybe, he could move on with his life.

"Lucas..", the young boy felt his neck hairs rise at his father's raspy but gentle and firm voice, "still having trouble packing up?"

No response came. The silence got thicker by the second.

...But a sigh finally broke the silence as Lucas dove his head into his hands and over his hair, "Yeah, dad. I am still having trouble picking out my luggage."

Flint only gave out a hearty chuckle as he came over and sat down next to his son. It was obvious that Lucas was debating which clothes and what to bring with him again. Although, Lucas was looking forward to being invited to the big event again. He remembered days where Lucas and Boney would go all around town or stand on the cliff near the Beach, eagerly awaiting the dove to come.

Flint almost chuckled as he remembered Lucas's face whenever he came home slightly disappointed with no letter. Other days, Lucas would just stare at his Mother's and Claus's graves for hours at end (it was almost as if Lucas was giving an apology to them every time he visited; Flint's heart broke every time he heard Lucas say that he and Boney went to the sunflower kissed graveyard). And most of the days, Lucas would actually ask Flint, Kumatora, Duster, or even Boney to keep his brawling skills sharp. He remembered when Lucas used to hate fighting. Those days are gone now...time sure passes by quickly.

"Um, dad….could you help me pick some of the clothes out?", Lucas bashfully requested.

"Of course."

Without missing a heartbeat, both of them got up. There was a more comforting and relaxed silence as all four of them picked up all the crumbled shirts and shorts.

Flint smiled, Lucas was really growing up fast. He was about half Flint's height now!

Claus and Hinawa would have been proud…

"Come on", Flint said after folding the last shirt and putting on top of the other folded shirts, "let's go ask the Mr. Saturns if all of them want to come this time."

Lucas could not hold back his laugh.

Annnnnnnnnnd that's all for now! While this chapter did take a little longer to make, I really enjoyed typing out some of the scenes. Though I had to really consider what each and every character was going to say. Along with already having an idea for a later scene in the chapter-typing it out, and then I would have to go back and see how Scene A can eventually get to Scene D or Scene G.

Again, apologies for the chapter being late.

Until then, stay safe, wash your hands, eat healthy, and have an amazing day!