A/N:

Mac's 'recovery' phase! We finally get an insight into his inner thoughts regarding the results, and Palu's too!

Act I: Climbing the Mountain

Volume 10: Cheese Without The Mac

[ - Pit - ]

( - Lilycove City [Bossa Nova Remix] | Pokémon Diamond and Pearl - )

Fox slid underneath his arch-nemesis on the TV. Wolf leapt over him, slicing his purple claws in a straight arc. With a sinister meteor sound, Fox's face turned to terror as the slash bounced him back up off the ground, high in the air.

The ace pilot was inches from the fuzz of the blast zone, and the patrons in Centiskorch's Café screamed out cheers of support for the cunning wolf. Fox quickly descended; eyes darting around to spot his enemy. Wolf burned in a purple fire, matching the violet of his ragged coat. The space mammal dodged right fast, switching his direction in the turn of a head.

Wolf read him like a book. The mercenary swivelled around, indigo flames surrounding his feet as the blow connected, with a bloodthirsty grunt. Fox screamed out, melting into the side of the screen.

"GAME!" The announcer cried with a childlike glee. The victorious beast turned to the crowd, slashing his claws up and down, a cocky smile worn on his face.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, WOLF O'DONNELL!" A plane with red and grey stripes on it flew down. Wolf saluted mockingly. He jumped into the space plane right as it touched the stage, sparks flying everywhere; then, the TV flashed to soccer.

"Finishing it with the up-special, just like ya did, Cap'n," I commented.

Captain Falcon took another swig from his beer. "Heh, thanks. Told ye that Falcon Dive ain't ever get old. Ye shoulda the look on 'is face." He imitated Marth's face, as best he could with the helmet on, mouth opened shock-jawed. Sonic snorted.

"Funny - alright, Mr. Falcon, we all know you want another round of cheers."

"Dayum, ye sure saw right through me," he grinned, raising his glass. The racer was red in the face. I brought my glass up, clinking it against the others'. "Cheers - but this time, it's tah' Jane. Good on ya, girl."

"Thanks, Douglass." Jane smiled appreciatively. "It wasn't really anything, though."

"That Robin was tough, tuh be honest wit' ya," Captain Falcon replied.

"Yeah, I agree - Ike is pretty dangerous what with that long ass sword of his," Sonic said with a smirk.

"Didn't she fight that Corrin guy, though?" I confusedly asked.

"Oh, they're all the same," Jane added, chuckling.

"Anyways…" Lady Palutena piped up, red wine swirling in her glass, matching the colour of her dress. "Jane, you have to give yourself more credit. You landed that foot-spike blindly off-stage. You weren't even looking in his direction!"

R.O.B. beeped. Maybe that was in agreement to her.

"Ah, I guess you're right. I'll take the compliment," she said, laughing.

"Hey, but more than that, you both are safe in Ultimate!" Sonic waved his hands about. "I mean… Palutena, you and Mr. Falcon - that's three of us! I know you and I, Pit," he pointed across the table at me, "are fairrrly high in numbers too, so we should be fine too."

Falcon was quick to interject. "Ye're missing R.O.B. - 'e's only a few lower than Pit. In no time, the entire crew shu'd b-."

As soon as he said that, he caught the last of his words in his mouth.

W-why is everyone silent?

"A moment of silence for our fallen brother." Sonic solemnly spoke.

"Don't say that, Sonic, he still has one more battle left to fight." Lady Palutena's voice was stronger than ever, and her eyebrows were knitted tightly.

"Wait, whad'ya both mean?" I was a bit afraid of the response.

Lady Palutena sighed in irritation. "Well… it's Mac. Mac isn't, argh, he's only got twelve points on the board right now."

"Twelve points?" Sonic exclaimed. "Oh, crap, he's in a worse state than I thought!"

Sweat rose to my hands as everyone around the table looked at him or averted their gazes. He shut up quickly.

Twelve… only twelve points? Oh, he's really, really in a bad way right now. That puts him in like the bottom twenty, maybe? Maybe, maybe, if I'd let him win the first round we had against each other, he'd have an extra two plus three equals five points right now. That would put him in an insanely better position, than now, and maybe he wouldn't have to do something amazing next round, oh no, oh no.

"O-oh, that sounds, uh, not too good for Mac…"

"You think!?" Lady Palutena snapped. "Damn, I made a promise to him that I'd get him through, but even now I can't even say I'll make that come true."

I could've sworn she muttered, "...and I never, never make promises I can't keep."

My eye twitched slightly, and I shied away in my seat slightly. Lady Palutena, I didn't mean to piss you off… The floor was panelled with dark, earthy wood. Nice brown rings patterned it once every while. I saw myself staring into it and caught myself halfway.

The celebratory air was completely gone from the dinner.

"I'm going to the ladies'," Jane spoke up. "Excuse me."

"You are excused," Sonic deadpanned, poking absently at the chilli dog he was eating with no hint of an appetite.

"Thanks, Sonic," Jane responded sharply. With that, she pushed her seat back in, nearly backing into a bug-Pokémon waiter.

One less person to share the tension between.

I jabbed at the fried noodles in the steel bowl. The noodles were tantalisingly yellowed with sauce and flavour. I was hungry. The food looked amazing.

But… it was like my stomach was already filled with the thought that even though we'd only met for a few weeks now, my bro might not be here for much longer, and it was - well - partially my fault.

We wouldn't be able to contact each other in any way if he left, until the next tournament.

Who knows when that is?

Captain Falcon cleared his throat. "To be honest wit' ye, even though it was - excuse th' language - a li'l bullshit they ain't consider that last life of Ganondorf's a stock for Mac… there ain't nothin' we can do about it. From what ye told me, Palutena, they ain't even gonna reconsider any form of appeal - in a match, ye can't have both contestants take three stocks. That's the official rule, innit, as much as it absolutely don't make no sense in this case.

"So I say we gotta do whatever, whatever it takes tuh guide Mac. We gon' help 'im figure out tech, analyse his matches, etcetera etcetera, for 'is last fight - Round Five. I mean, Palutena, we just gotta work on what we worked on before - there was a lot of progress recently. Mac went from no stocks to, well, we'll say, effectively, three in the span of just a week. That sounds like progress to me.

"Perhaps, maybe, even, appeal to the administration for at least some form of compensation, to make his fifth match later on in the week, givin' us a li'l more time to help 'im."

There was then just the sound of Sonic munching on his food, seemingly having regained his ever-large hunger, and R.O.B.'s motors whirring as they recharged. For a few seconds, at least.

"-Yeah. You're right, Captain. I… You're right. Pit, I'm sorry about before." Lady Palutena rubbed her head softly. "I'm just worried."

"No problem, Lady Palutena." I looked down, smiling a little involuntarily.

Her phone's ringtone abruptly played. She picked up the rectangular device gingerly. "Oh, it's the hospital. Let's see what's up."

Sonic stopped chewing for a second, staring at Lady Palutena as she picked it up.

"Hello?... Yes, this is her… … Uh-huh, yep…. … … … … … … Whoa, wait, already?"

She brought the phone away for a second, a glint in her eye.

"Mac came conscious a few minutes ago."

[ - Little Mac - ]

I twisted my head to the side instinctively, reaching for my phone.

"AAAAAAGGHH!"

Something rushed into my head and everything went red. Only pain in my right shoulder. A crushing migraine pulsated in the core of my skull.

"Oi, pipe it down!" The same howling nurse from back when R.O.B. got injured abruptly shrieked, thrusting the wooden door into the wall. "There are others - trying - to rest here too!"

"Aren't you- aren't you generating more noise than I am?"

She stared icily at me. That woman must've been thinking about poisoning the damn water supply to get back at me for that one. She turned on her heels, sauntering out of the room with a loud clip-clop of her heels. My ears cried bloody murder when the foul woman slammed the door shut. A piercing screech rippled from the door hinge.

"...Fucking bitch."

I settled down, reaching for the phone more gingerly this time. The infuriatingly soft grain of the wooden bedside table rubbed against the pad of my finger, as the phone inched, little by little, closer.

What did I do to deserve this punishment?

I made contact with the thing, trying not to fall over.

Aaah, the charger is still in.

The exclamation was more mental than verbal, because what if that Gorgon of a woman returned?

My right hand danced around to the far side of the phone carefully. The index and middle tweaked the black wire, as my forearm began to cramp. I groaned. Wiggling it gently, the charger disconnected slowly, the phone dropping gently onto the table with a soft thud. I nabbed it with my fingers, gradually bringing it in front just as the tension of holding my arm in that awkward position began to take its toll.

WHATSAPP [21:39]

You may have new messages.

...Mmh. I guess that's to be expected.

I swiped, drawing the M. Normally, the slight dopamine rush of opening texts was pleasurable, or even, enjoyable… but this time, I wanted nothing better than to just talk to someone face-to-face, instead of reading through each text one by one with the coldness of the screen staring me in the face.

I pressed my finger on the app button and sighed.

THE MISFITS (Palu, Pithead, Maurice, Jane, Falcon, ROBert, you)

( - NEW UNREAD MESSAGES [10+] - )

[09:30] Palu: Maurice Jane Falcon Pit and I were in the hospital last night

Don't think Mac is getting up any time soon.

FYI he's alright but might take awhile to recover

[09:31] Jane: Oh thank god. Good!

[09:32] Maurice: Haha recover

[09:32] Jane: ...

[09:33] Palu: Shut up, haha.

I was worried out of my mind but he's alright now.

[09:34] Pithead: Okay, that's good.

[09:34] Falcon: Nice spelling Pit perfectly punctuated too

[09:35] Pithead: Voice translation.

[09:35] Palu: You're meant to practice Pithead…

[09:36] Pithead: Okay, Lady Palutena.

[09:36] Palu: I can tell when you're using it and not Pit…

[09:37] Pit: I was actually doing it, though!

[21:45] Falcon: Arright! Falcon gets another W!

Where you guys at, Jane and I are coming out into the lobby

[21:48] Pithead: Jumpup weave yor hand

[21:49] Jane: I can see you guys! I'm heading over now.

[22:55] Palu: Mac, if you're awake, say something please!

[22:56] Pithead: wE Nkow yor awak

[22:56] Maurice: I had a stroke reading that

[22:57] Palu: Don't pressure him to talk, Pit, he just woke up.

A notifications bar abruptly flew down from the top of the screen.

( INCOMING CALL - PALU (3 MISSED))

O Decline / Accept? I

Without thinking, my finger dropped onto the Accept button. Although it would be nice to hear Palu and her silken smooth voice, I had no energy and I was jet-lagged being awake at eleven at night, and I wanted nothing more than to just… struggle to go back to sleep.

Especially with insomnia, that's something I - never - thought I'd hear myself think.

"Palu?"

"Mac! Are you alright?" Without waiting for my response, she continued. "Oh gosh, I'm going to have to put you on speaker, is that fine?"

"Yeah, yeah, go for it." There was a sound from the other side and background chatter from random voices eroded the phone speaker.

"Where are you guys at right now? Sounds pretty, uh, lively."

"We're at Centiskorch's Café for dinner, Mac!" Pit called. "Cap'n and Jane both won their battles for Round Four!"

"Niiice, good job Falc!"

"Thanks, sonny." I could almost see him saluting in my mind's eye.

"Where's Jane, by the way?" Even though I didn't really know what she was going to say to me after what happened two days back, I missed her a little.

"She's in the restroom right now."

"Mmh, alright. No problem - actually, speaking of matches, no-one from the tournament has officially told me what I'm at. Funnily enough, they haven't updated the page from yesterday yet. Must be my internet. How'd I go?"

There was a dead silence. Someone hissed something.

"Palu? Pit? Are y'all there?"

"Yeah, we're here." Pit wavered.

"Mac?" Palu asked.

"Yeah?"

"Mac, I hate to break it to you - I wish I could be there with you - but you… you lost."

"Wait, what do you mean? I-I mean, I saw him flying away first."

"In the heat of the moment that's how things seem. It's, I understand that, we- I mean, Pit, Sonic, Falcon and I, we all know from experience that things seem different in the battle, but when you look at the footage and the replays - you get my meaning."

"Yeah, well, d-do I at least get credit for three stocks, like a tie? I mean, it's counterintuitive- and, and I mean, it doesn't make sense, but c'mon, that's not really, really that fair."

The air conditioning was ice cold but my palms leaked sweat.

"Mac… I'm sorry. We tried."

I grimaced tightly. Subconsciously, my stomach trembled. There was the sound of teeth chattering.

I realised that the sound came from my own jaw.

"H-hey, don't worry about it. It's not your fault. But, er, h-how much did I miss out by?"

"A… a few seconds." Palu responded, but not before Sonic in the background yelled out something else. Hurriedly, a female voice - Palu's - told him to shut up in a furious tone, but I'd heard what he said.

He'd said "sixty-three milliseconds."

What?

I yelled. "Palu, are you serious?"

There was another long silence. I stewed in my own sweat, waiting for the loudmouth nurse to come in and bust my ass for making noise again.

She didn't come in, but there was a part of me that wanted her to enter and start screaming her ugly head off so I wouldn't feel like there was no reason for my aggravation.

"Mac, ya there?" Pit's voice crackled over the speaker.

The audio quality was good, though.

"Yeah. I'm here. Sorry for yelling, Palu." She's gonna think that was directed to her.

"She isn't here." Pit replied sharply. It was kinda scary - his voice was almost always either happy and encouraging, or dejected and sad, but never aggressive, terse or... short.

"Oh." Then, the background noise went softer - the phone must've been turned off speaker.

"Hm. Are ya feeling any better?" Sounds of footsteps came from the other end.

"Well enough. Neck can't move very well still. Tired."

"If you're tired, should I leave ya?" His tone was still acid.

If I keep talking… I might screw it up worse.

"You know what, sure. Goodnight, Pit."

He didn't respond. The hangup tone rang out.

And then, my hands were a little less moist and my clothes stuck a little less to my skin.

I sighed. I really, really don't know what to think about this anymore.

The blanket felt stifling now that the heat rose up. I kicked it off gently, not wanting to shoot myself in the foot again. The wind in the cold room bit, but I wasn't bothered enough to get up and change the thermostat.

'Whenever you're feeling confused, Mac baby, you gotta look inside yourself and pull your feelings out of you. You'll feel clearer, Mac, you just gotta be brave and take the dive.'

I didn't feel like it. It felt like a monster in the back of my mind that I was so scared to face but knew I had to face eventually; like the frog you have to eat but the frog was poisonous and had warts. The alternative was rest - I could've just gone to sleep… but there's too much going on up there for me to. I knew that for a fact. I'd be rolling around for at least an hour, maybe even two, before catching a wink, and that would be even more torture because that would be plainly unproductive and I'd hate myself for it. I didn't need any more self-loathing after that entire episode.

I might as well confront myself.

I feel alone, something in me said.

I didn't expect myself to - say - that, but when it resounded I knew it to be true.

I feel alone. Physically, right now, I'm alone and it's late at night. Mentally alone; I pushed them all away. The pit of my stomach, in between belly and chest, suddenly felt like it was pushing into, depressing itself with fear and sheer… aloneness.

Aloneness.

That's not a word.

But it summarises how I feel right now.

"Aloneness." I said it aloud, to no one but myself, playing with the verbiage.

"Loneliness, it's like you've got only a handful of people who really know you; and people know you're feeling lonely. Aloneness, however… I can't put my finger on what strictly is different about it, but, it's like you're fully alone. One person."

Saying that only depressed, pushed in that same pit of my stomach even further.

That's pushing them away. But… there's something else. What about the match? I took two stocks off Ganondorf and it's stupid that it doesn't count for jack, that last one. I know, I know that I was off by a few milliseconds and that it doesn't technically count as a tie, but it's so… aargh! They're right to not let me have it - but man, it feels like I do deserve it and I know I do; I want it so badly but yet if they had given it to me, I'd feel nothing but guilt and undeserving.

What does that put me on? Two times three, six points plus the last six… my god. I'm on twelve points.

Twelve.

Twelve points.

The thought had simply paralysed my brain.

I probably wouldn't be making it into Ultimate.

The thought used to be, used to be so distant and far away, the date, that I wasn't entirely worried about it - it wasn't real yet. But now it was very real and very visceral and in my direct line of vision.

And I had one game to make up for it.

Yet, it was strange. Having won three stocks - would've been, had it not been for a technicality - was a big improvement. A big improvement over the last two rounds - clearly so. I almost won.

It was working.

My back's against the wall. Doc always used to say this one thing, about how some people crumble under the pressure and can't take it, they fumble the ball; but others, in high duress situations, they flourish and pull off their best results; it's the do-or-die situation that pushes them, forces them to go higher, to elevate their game.

Despite the loneliness, the exhaustion, everything building up… at least this part of the problem feels good in a weird way. The world's against me, the impossible task is in front of me and a three-headed gorgon is behind me. In a poetic, epic manner, it felt grand, the impossible looking battle I was facing right now, the one-man army versus the militia of a thousand men.

I decided then and there that the world's toughest task would not bring me down.

[ - Palutena - ]

Thoughts swarmed into my head and I was simply overwhelmed.

It's just his reaction. I know he's not pissed at me, and he'd get why I hid it from him initially, I know that. I breathed deeply, walking to the restroom. It'd been under the guise of checking on Jane, as she'd been in there for about seven minutes already; but really, I needed to be alone for awhile.

I opened the door. The room was well kept, as well as it could being a restroom. Turning on the tap, I thrust the water onto my face. It wasn't cold… just wet.

Between us… we haven't really had much conflict. It's maybe because of that, that I've had this knee-jerk reaction. I couldn't shake the feeling, the feeling of stinging in my cheeks.

You're upset. Don't deny it. Something popped up in my mind. I tried to shake it away, but it continued - I let myself let it continue.

When someone you look up to and like a lot shoots you down like that, that's how you feel. You question what you did wrong, and that's where this comes from. From Pit's experiences with other angels that he'd told me about, it seemed like being singled out in a social situation for awkwardness.

He's a mortal, though.

But he's Mac.

The internal conversation exploded as I peered in the mirror, hands wet.

You command these humans - you're a literal goddess.

I looked shocked.

You're not easily rattled, especially by those below you.

Not really sorrowful or furious or angry.

A jarring moment like that only comes from a few types of people.

The face stared back, eyes piercing and deep trying to stop the flow of thought.

When you do wrong and you know it,

The eyes, the eyes.

or especially being chided by people with more power than yourself,

The eyes, the eyes.

-people you respect-

THE EYES, THE EYES.

-people you l-

A feminine groan rocked the world. The low sound emerged from one of the toilet stalls opposite, painted in a dark pink, in the otherwise empty bathroom.

Jane.

"Jane?"

"-I'm in here." The voice that came out was barely hers, strained and forced.

"Where?"

"L-last…"

"Are you alright?" I dabbed my hands, unconcerned of the horrible feeling of damp clothing. I rushed over.

When I reached the opposite end of the toilet, the latch suddenly unlocked, and the wood door gradually swung open.

"Jane…"

"I-it… it happened."

She was sitting on the shut toilet clothed, her back pressed completely on the seat, leaned to the right. Her arm rested on the toilet paper canister, yet the flesh was trembling.

"Your seizures…"

"Yeah. More frequent." Jane laughed mirthlessly.

I didn't say a word. Her eyes rolled back in her skull, and she lulled to the back of the seat. Her feet barely kept on the floor, despite the rubber soles of her shoes matching the traction of the tile, and her left arm lay limp at the wayside.

"I'm sorry, Jane."

"No need… no need, to be," Jane replied slowly, "not your fault."

"No- I, I just wish, there was something I could do. I'm a goddess." I feel as though I state that way too much, and maybe it's to the point of being patronising.

"You're always h-here for me. All I could ask for." Her words were barely enunciated properly.

Those fractured sentences hurt to hear.

"I love you, sister."

"Y-you too."

"Do you want me to warp you back?"

She sighed. "I want t-to spend," Jane stretched the vowel brokenly, "time … them, but I d-don't want… s-see me this way." The way her voice broke off in the middle of those sentences, during random words, it was a heartbreaking tell.

"Alright, Jane. No judgment. I understand. Let's do it."

I walked into the stall, grabbing hold of her limp wrist.

It was going to take a lot of energy. Being a goddess from out of this world meaning absolutely nothing in this universe didn't help at all.

"Home, right?"

"Apartment 16."

"Want me to come back with you?"

"...Requires more energy for you… alone."

"Alright."

I closed my eyes and remembered the location of her flat, focussing in on that place, gripping her wrists strongly but hopefully not to the point of causing her any pain. Her forearms began to thin out, until they were air.

When I opened them next, Jane was gone.

I was alone again.