There's No "Tier" in Christmas!
"Grudges are for those who insist that they are owed something; forgiveness, however, is for those who are substantial enough to move on."
-Criss Jami
Truce (n): an agreement between enemies or opponents to stop fighting or arguing for a certain time.
-from Google Search
Christmas Day arrived with a fresh blanket of snow and frosted-over windows. All throughout the Smash Mansion, the Smashers began to stir in their beds—save for two, who were already up.
Ness was the first to awaken, finding a note under his pillow directing him to look under his bed. Upon doing so, he discovered a bright red box with a green ribbon on it.
"What…?" breathed Ness as he removed the box from his hiding place and opened it.
It was a personalized baseball bat!
Ness gawked at the present for a full minute before rushing to the phone and dialing a number.
"Hello?" Luigi's voice sleepily came over the receiver.
"Hey, Luigi! Look under your pillow!" cried Ness.
Rustling as Luigi obliged. "A note?" he mumbled.
"Does it tell you to look under the bed?" asked Ness.
"Yeah. Wait a minute." More rustling, and then a gasp. "It's a present."
"Open it," Ness told him.
Luigi did so and then gasped again. "Oh, my God! It's a keyboard! And here's a small packet of batteries to go with it! Ness—I believe we have a Secret Santa."
"Yeah," laughed Ness. "I'm gonna check in with the others!"
Meanwhile, Samus awoke to not a note under her pillow, but a romantic Christmas card. After reading it, she discovered a box of jewelry under her bed, along with a bouquet of roses and a box of chocolates. She had a hunch as to who sent these, and why.
The remaining Smashers also awoke to find a gift of sorts under their beds, leading to lively debate regarding who'd perform such a gesture and what would drive them to do so. When they headed downstairs for breakfast, their questions were answered.
Nicely decorated tables and plates full of food greeted them. There were bowls containing fruit, hot chocolate packets and cream and sugar. There were several boxes of donuts and breakfast pastries. There was soft music playing overhead. And greeting them were Falcon and Fox, flanked by a team of professional chefs.
"Merry Christmas, guys!" the duo greeted.
"Wow," Luigi said finally. "You did all of this?"
"Yes," Fox said solemnly. "We hope you like it."
Kirby's mouth watered. "Poyo," he said dreamily.
"Please, have a seat," said Falcon, "and enjoy."
In no time, the Smashers made themselves comfortable, enjoying the special holiday breakfast.
"If you need anything else, like bladed weapons, then don't hesitate to ask," said one of the chefs.
"Thanks for your help," said Douglas as the chefs took their leave.
Then, he turned to Fox. "Which of us should go first?" he asked.
"I'll start," said Fox. He cleared his throat and addressed the ten other Smashers.
"We've been hideous. I know that, and Douglas knows that, and—we intend to take your fury. We've been conceited, selfish—essentially, we've been a pair of ripe b—ds."
"Strong beginning," opined Ness.
"Look, we'll be happy to strip off our shirts and flagellate ourselves before all of you," said Fox. "Or perhaps you can answer a simple question."
"Hm. I'm good with the flagellation," said Luigi.
Fox bit his lip. "What it gonna take for us to earn your forgiveness?"
The other Smashers exchanged looks.
"Well, that depends," Samus finally replied. "Have you sworn off acting like d—ks?"
"Er—for the most part," said Fox.
Everyone stared stonily at the two A-tiers.
"For God's sake, everybody, it's Christmas," said Fox. "I don't know about you, but I wanna celebrate the most wonderful time of the year as a family."
"Which means that we should magically forget what you did for the past eight months," Link put in. "Where did you get that idea from—a movie?"
Fox and Falcon heard the edge in the elf's voice. It should've cut like a razor.
But it didn't. They wouldn't allow themselves to.
Then, Captain Falcon spoke up.
"Jiggs, Ness, Luigi—would you come with me?" he asked, rising from his chair. "I have something very special for you."
Ness and Jiggs sneaked a quick look at Luigi, who nodded, his vigilant stare fixed on the good Captain. Silently, they got up and followed the Captain to a small, private room, where an amazing sight greeted them.
"Whoa," gasped Ness.
The four walls were each painted a specific color to represent the four secret fighters. Gold for Captain Falcon, blue for Ness, pink for Jiggs and green for Luigi. On the circular table waited four plates of cheesy omelets and chocolate chip pancakes. In the center sat some butter and four flavors of pancake syrup. There was also a variety of beverages to choose from, from milk to juice to smoothies. On the different colored walls hung mementoes of each unlockable's home world. Mute City. Big Blue. Onett. Fourside. Pokémon Stadiums and Gyms. Certain landmarks in the Mushroom Kingdom. Even the New York City skyline, the Met and the Apollo Theater. Happy music played from a CD player resting beside the open window.
On a far table sat a cake, with toppers in each of the four's likenesses. It was a half-sheet of cake in the shape of the Smash symbol, created in orange, blue, pink and green frosting. Beside it rested a cake cutter, cake server and four plates.
"Dio," Luigi said finally. "It's beautiful."
"Thanks," said Falcon. "It wasn't easy, you know."
"I can make myself right at home here," warbled Jiggs.
"And you even brought pictures of the Runaway Five?" breathed Ness. "Do you have some of their CDs?"
"As a matter of fact, I do," nodded Falcon.
He walked over to the CD player, pressed "stop" and ejected the currently playing CD before putting in another CD, this time of the Runaway Five's greatest hits. The soul music filled the room as the four Smashers sat down to eat.
When all of the omelets and pancakes were consumed, Falcon spoke again.
"I would like this to be a fresh start for the Formidable Four," Douglas said after a while. "In that craze with the tier list, I almost forgot what we stood for. But I've been thinking about it, and—I guess I've been a bit of an idiot."
Luigi, Ness and Jiggs cleared their throats in tandem.
"You were more than just a bit of an idiot," said Ness.
"We could barely stand to be around you," Luigi added frankly.
"Fine—I was a complete idiot," relented Falcon, "but cross my heart and hope to die, that piece of paper will never eclipse the finer things in life again."
"What do you say, L?" asked Ness. "Should we believe him?"
"You know, I'm not quite sure," replied Luigi. "He did say and do plenty of hurtful things, especially to me, that shouldn't be overlooked."
"I regret that I ever did them," said Falcon. "Luigi, you're not the last-place loser or a n—b. You're amazing. You're the better half of the Super Mario Bros. And Ness—you're not just some kid with a baseball bat. You're the kid who defeated freakin' Gigyas. Jiggs, I should've spent more time with you, so if you wanna doodle on my face with your Sharpie tonight, then I won't complain."
"You're just trying to butter us up," said Luigi.
"Well—kinda. But I truly am sorry for everything I've done. Calling you those names, belittling you, pranking you. Luigi, I shouldn't have reacted to you winning over me by punching you like that. Just give me a chance to make this up to you guys. That's all I ask."
"That—that seems fair enough," said Luigi after a beat.
"I agree," said Ness. "It is Christmas, so consider this our present to you."
"Do you forgive me?" asked Falcon.
"Well, we didn't say that," Luigi said crisply.
"Out of the spirit of this lovely holiday, we're willing to offer you a second chance," added Jiggs. "Let it not be in vain."
Tears of joy prickled at Falcon's eyes, which he swiped away. "Thank you," he said. "Thank you so much. And God bless us everyone!"
"Hear, hear," said Ness.
"Yes! The Formidable Four is back, baby!" cheered Falcon.
"You can bet your Blue Falcon it is," said Luigi.
Luigi, Falcon, Jiggs and Ness then cut the cake, smearing frosting all over each other's faces.
"Formidable Four, always and forever!" they cried.
…
Meanwhile, Fox was delivering his own mea culpa to Mario, DK, Link, Samus, Yoshi, Kirby and Pikachu. His audience just regarded him coolly as they continued to enjoy their food.
"What Falcon and I are trying to say," Fox told them, "and I don't know how to find the right way for it…"
Falcon reemerged, with Luigi, Ness and Jigglypuff in tow, and put an arm around Fox. "We're sorry," he stated with finality, "about everything. We were foolish and stupid, and we really miss you hanging around with us."
One by one, the Smashers' faces softened, and smiles stretched across their faces. It was what they'd wanted to hear for so long. Mario stood up and applauded, followed by Kirby, Pikachu, Yoshi, DK—and finally Samus and Link.
Falcon and Fox stood in the middle of it all, holding hands, feeling vindicated.
Slowly, Samus approached Douglas, so many emotions on her face. The racer cupped the Space Warrior's face in his hands. "Sammy, I…"
She shushed him. "I know," she said quietly. They kissed and kissed and kissed.
"Forgive me," the Captain said when they separated.
"I forgive you," Samus softly replied.
"I'll never say something like that to you again," Douglas vowed. "I swear it."
Samus nodded. "Let's start over. Properly, this time."
Douglas grinned. "I couldn't agree more."
The twelve Smashers stood together, eyes twinkling with warmth and friendship, once again regarding each other as equals. Tier list all but forgotten.
"All these months ago, we were strangers meeting for the first time," intoned Luigi. "Now, we're like a family. We are a family."
"He's right," added Mario. "Once the Original Twelve, always the Original Twelve. No matter what."
"Amen," smiled Link.
"Okay," said Ness, placing his hands on his hips and nodding.
"Let's promise never to let some piece of paper come between us again," said Fox.
"I promise," said Douglas.
"Pika," said Pikachu.
"Poyo," added Kirby.
One by one, the Smashers promised to maintain their special, new bond by any means necessary. Then, they went outside to play in the snow, winding up in an epic yet playful snowball fight.
Their first Christmas as Smashers turned out to be the best Christmas ever.
Please R&R.
