A Walk Among Giants, Chapter 32: Ravenants
Oooooh we're halfway there! Ohh-ah livin on a prayer! Take my hand, we'll make it I swear! Ohh-ah Livin on a prayer!
Welcome back to batshit crazy vill…
Colossal thanks to:
UltimateCCC: Oh how right you were…
TheShadowStarr23: And that I love writing them
And yeah Dark Link has his ways he knows how to play his cards right. And yes he is, and the mystery continues!
Well I hoped to clear up as much as possible, and he and the yacht sunk lol. Ah Robin, well maybe someday he can redeem himself in the eyes of everyone.
And wait no more here it is, also, also the boar ain't done yet! *wink *wink
Robin, or as she has come to be known, Raven. Some would say she and her counterpart were tragic heros. Although their fates were mysteriously altered to be able to live out a 'normal' life, this was far from the case for poor Raven at least in her opinion. From the moment he found her on that field, She knew their destinies were intertwined. Or at least that's what she came to believe. Chrom, Exalt of Ylisse and leader of the shepherds. She can remember so vividly how she and him led their army to victory against the mad king of Plegia, Gengrel.
It felt like they had accomplished something big, although tragedy struck prior to their big win. A win is a win and things seemed to finally be going right, a big threat was taken off the board afterall. Although that day couldn't have gone any worse for her, morale was high, hope was in the air, and more importantly love. But not the sort of love she hoped for no, she got a slap in the face instead. The memory still haunts her and she could see it so vividly, how Chrom expressed his love for another woman. Oh Sumia, she was so sweet and clumsy, yet so determined and dedicated. Raven was as excited and thrilled as everyone else when the battle ended and the day was won, there was so much she wanted to get off her chest so much to tell him. Only to see him embrace another woman. "Chrom, you made it! You're safe!" She said while hugging the life out of him.
"Get a room!" Flavia commented under her breath.
Now imagine the sound of a tall room made of pure glass filled with nothing but fragile glass objects… Now imagine that whole thing shattering at once. That is the sound Raven heard ring in her ears when she saw that scene unfolding. "Yeah… Flavia? Robin? Yeah… Maybe we should… You know." Lissa says while pointing in the opposite direction from them.
"B-but…" Raven could only mutter to herself before Flavia grabbed her by the collar and dragged her away.
"Carry on, lovebirds." Flavia says as they leave.
"B-but…" Raven mumbled to herself again as she was dragged further away.
She had convinced herself that it must have been a fling however, denial is always the first step. Sure Chrom proposed and they were to be web but Raven just thought 'it won't last… Right?' She had fought alongside him for a while now she thought they were closer than ever. They had chemistry, it was the biggest spark of all sparks, heck there wasn't anything between them anymore the other didn't know, even if it was due to embarrassing events… "it won't last!"
Despite everything however Raven managed to keep a tight lid on everything. It was like waiting out a storm, until she realised the storm was just the beginning. Oftentimes she'd sit in her tent alone trying to focus on her job, only to start tearing things in anger and sadness a second after. It was so frustrating being there everyday watching them be so lovey dovey with each other. She acted like she didn't notice or cared, but in reality it stung. She should have seen it coming though, Sumia practically acted like a wife before they even wed, she looked after chrom, heck even cooked for him at times. She was there helping him in any way she could, knowing Chrom was under tremendous stress then. Raven would be lying if she said she didn't feel betrayed by the way events had transpired. Did their time together mean nothing? Did he lead her on with false hope? No Chrom wasn't that type of person. Her everlasting hope finally broke when an unfortunate event for her came to be…
Lucina, the princess of Ylisse, was born a few short years later. And if the universe wasn't done fucking her over yet future Lucina came to the past, not only that but she found out Chrom and Sumia had a second daughter as well. It was the reality check that hit her with the force of a meteorite crashing to earth. The fantasy she thought for herself would simply never come to pass. Worst yet, Chrom had died in the dark future from whence they came, and apparently it was Raven herself who stabbed him in the back. Lucina was so fiercely dedicated in doing everything in her power to prevent Chroms unfortunate passing from ever happening. So of course when Lucina learned the truth she tried to end Raven before Grima could have a chance to possess her and kill Chrom. Had it not been for Chrom himself she would have most likely succeeded too. Even after he assured Lucina that Raven wouldn't ever betray him, let alone outright kill him she wasn't fully convinced. Raven always had a pair of eyes on her and it was like Lucina was looking for the littlest of reasons to finish what she started. Eventually her and Lucina had several talks about it and came to a sort of mutual understanding.
And once Raven Learned that Grima could only be truly defeated by his own hand she knew what she had to do. It was then that she realised why events transpired as they did, she came to believe that she was never meant to be part of that world. Just an obstruction in the world… So when she was once again found in that field she was so lost. How? And Why? Those two questions kept circling in her mind, she thought at first that she must have failed to vanquish Grima, but his mark was gone. So now she was left in the world to find her own path, however this came at a price as she started suffering from nightmares. She had decided to try to get away from it all; it could be nothing but at the same time the dreams could've been a warning, one she didn't intend to take lightly. The memory was still fresh in her mind of the day she made her drastic decision.
"Robin?" Chrom said appearing from a dark corner startling her. She quickly turned around and relaxed once she just saw it was him. "Robin, it's like the middle of the night what are you doing?" He asked.
"I need to find answers, I wont find them here. I need to do this." She responds with her back to him.
"And I won't stop you, however this couldn't wait til morning? I mean the weather is terrible right now. And we can arrange a proper sendoff for you." He tells her as she opens the stable doors and steps into the stormy night pulling her hood over her head. She turns to look at him with sorrow in her eyes. "I know of your nightmares. And while I can't imagine what it must be like I can safely assure you nothing of the sort will come to pass, I promise." He says assuringly while extending his hand to her.
"Chrom I-I… I love you." She admits as they both stood there being pelted by rain.
"I love you too, Robin." He says extending his arm further while she wiped her eyes. "You are a very dear friend to me and I'm sure the others feel the same too!" He says.
"And that's why… why I must do this…" She tells him and gives him a small smile. His arm falls to his side knowing he wouldn't be able to talk her out of this. She mounts the horse shortly after and rides off into the stormy night disappearing behind the rain and fog.
That was the last time she ever saw Chrom before coming to the tournament. It was just a day later that she was approached by three strangers that would change her life forever. That night she sat around a campfire in the forest to rest for the night before resuming on her journey. She thought she might take Flavia's offer to be her tactician. It'll give her a place to stay while she figures stuff out. When suddenly the wind picked up completely blowing out her fire. Her horse is spooked and breaks free of its reins and runs off. "Hey come back, you have my stuff!" She shouts at the mount who disappears while she groans and slumps her shoulders. She sees three quick flashes strike around her despite being a clear starry night. She quickly pulls out her sword taking in her surroundings as her eyes adjust to the dark. She spots three shadowy figures emerging from the woods stepping towards her. "Not a step more!" She says, "I'm armed so quickly state your business!" She warns twirling her sword so it glints with the moonlight making its presence known.
"Robin?" A man asks and she slightly lowered her sword puzzled. She figured someone would go looking for her but she also figured they wouldn't find her this fast. She didn't recognize the voice either, and she knew everyone well enough to tell them by voice.
"Who's asking" she asked as the area is lit up by one of them. She sees an elven man and woman and a warrior completely clad in armor with a hand cannon. The elven woman had conjured up a flame in her hand allowing them to see.
"We are the Smash Brothers," the man begins. "And we have a proposition for you..."
That is how Raven's journey into the world of smash began. And she thought she had left all her past behind when she entered the portal. However she couldn't just do that as parts of her old life followed her through. Like the nightmares she was plagued with, and of course Lucina even if she was from a different dimension. Although she had a rocky relationship with her Lucina, she came to care greatly for this stranger from afar. Something about her makes her motherly instincts kick in from time to time. Ironically if events played out a little differently that would've been the case, oh what could have been… Being Lucina's mother, Chrom's wife. The more time she spent here the more she realised of how much she had actually brought with her. Like revenants hanging over her, more and more of her old life spilt over to her new life in smash.
Aaaaaaaand that's how she found herself sitting on a dining table across from him. Lissa, Chrom and Sumia had come for a visit and now here they all sat, except the other two were from Robin's world not hers. It still didn't make things any less awkward for her, but her composure was so great no one noticed. Several common rooms were converted into personal dining rooms where smashers and their partners could eat with friends and family.
"So tell me about my 'other self' how is he like?" Lissa asked Chrom while he and Sumia glanced at each other briefly.
"You mean her?" Chrom corrected and Lissa pouted looking disappointed.
"Hold on what? Why is Raven the only one who gets an opposite?" She says pointing at Robin. "Why do you get special attention from the universe?" She says looking at Raven who sighed.
"I wish I could answer your question but I myself don't even know" Raven says with a shrug.
"The way you talked about Robin got me excited to think I had my own twin out there" Lissa adds.
"Hey you still have Chrom, your actual brother" Robin assured her.
"Eh he's boring!" She says waving him off.
"Im right here!" Chrom stated, waving his arms.
"Oh not you, the other one" she quickly adds.
"Hey the universe is infinite so who knows, maybe you do have an opposite somewhere out there!" Palutena assures her.
The doors suddenly slam open and Pittoo comes waltzing in. "Fuck man, whats for dinner? I'm famished from kicking ass all day!" He says grabbed a chicken leg and bit into it while taking his seat next to Lucina. "Oh yeah thats good shit!" He says while Lucina buried her face in her hands.
"Pittoo!" Palutena whispered harshly, "we have guests!" She scolds him. Chrom, Sumia and Lissa however just stared at him with blank stares.
"Oh right!" He says setting his drumstick down and licking his fingers. "How do you do? I'm Dark Pit." He says extending his hand to Lissa. All the while Lucina started banging her head on the table lightly…
"A few days earlier…"
"So…"
"So…?"
"Here we are"
"Indeed we are"
Lucina and Pittoo both sat in cells opposite from one another sitting on benches facing each other. Inigo snorts while Pittoo smirks to himself. "Nice pig!" He remarks stifling a laugh.
"Shut up" she responded and crossed her arms, as much as she wanted to berate him for it he had nothing to do with it. She is the one who stole King Bullbo's son. And she means to return him at once, but how did Bullbo end up here in the first place? Well…
*Flashback*
Toon Link entered the cafeteria looking smugly to himself, he and Falcon got the opportunity to go into town. He places a large bag on the table and takes a long sniff and begins rubbing his hands together. He opens the bag and takes out a nice hot chicken nugget. He licks his lips before taking the first bite, it had been so long since he got to enjoy those. Because Peach had to just go and… anyway he kicks back pops another in his mouth. He knew he could take his time savoring these because the majority of the smashers would be out. "Hey buddy!" Link says appearing out of nowhere and taking a handful of his nuggets. He ruffles Toon's hair and walks off while Toon lets out a squeal of horror. He then turns to give Link a death gare and he starts to see red.
The next day Link awoke bright and early and slipped into his boots. He felt something mushy and tried to remove them only to find he had been cemented into them. Worst yet the boots themselves were cemented to the floor. He tries to move but is unable to; he tried calling for help but Mario and Marth had already left. He hears the lid tk the ventilation shaft slowly squeak open and Toon Link poke out with a grin on his face. "You've met with a terrible fate. Haven't you?" He says as he steps down.
"Oh Toon thank Din you're here, I need some help!" He says tugging on his foot. Toon reaches into a bag and takes out a hammer and chisel.
"Leave it to meh!" He says…
*moments later*
Toon was dragging Link down the hall on a wagon while humming to himself with malicious intent. "Man I'm so glad you came when you did, I don't what I would've done!" Link says while he sighed.
"Yup yup, must have been terrible…" Toon says opening the back door and heading out the mansion.
"Are you sure this is the way to Dr. Mario tho?" Link asked as he scratched his head looking around. They were heading towards the pool area after all.
"This is the stairway to heaven" Toon remarked, "but in your case it's the highway to HELL!" He states while Link looked at him puzzled. "For my CHICKEN NUGGIES!" Toon exclaimed and pushed Link into the pool who instantly sank to the bottom.
"Hey Toon have you seen Link by any chance? He was supposed to meet me 30 minutes ago!" She says clicking her tongue and shaking her head.
"Nah I haven seen the nuggie thief, I mean the chicken mugget, I mean that guy" Toon says while bubbles start to rise out of the pool behind him.
"What's that?" She asks, taking a glance behind him but he steps in her way.
"Just my new pet fish, bubbles…" He says, shrugging his shoulders with an innocent smile.
"Link?!" She shouts dashing towards the pool when she sees him at the bottom of the pool struggling for air. "Toon how could you?!" She says placing her hands on her hips and giving him a stern look.
"He stole my NUGGETS!" Toon exclaims, "do what you will but you do not steal another man's nuggets!" Toon states while stomping his foot in a fit.
"I'll deal with you later!" She says before reaching in and dragging Link out of the pool who started coughing up water.
"Oh my! so pretty… are you a mermaid?" Link says in a daze while smiling stupidly to himself. Toon took the opportunity to sneak away but before he could he was pinned to the ground by needles.
"Where do you think you're going you little squirt!" Sheik says, stepping off the roof and landing near him perfectly like a cat.
"Nice catch sis!" Zelda says while they high five each other.
"Anytime girl!" She says before giving Toon Link a glare and walking off.
"Are you STILL mad about the pudding cap? I said I was sorry!" Toon complained before being hoisted up in the air by his collar by Link.
"What should we do with it?" Link said, smiling evilly while Zelda snatched him away.
"We aren't doing anything, I am taking him to lockup to think about what he's done!" Zelda responds and walks away with Toon on hand.
"This is over Linksky, not by long shot!" Toon shouts before he and Zelda disappear into the mansion.
*Sometime Later*
"Getting your girl to fight your battles huh, well let's see you wiggle out of this one you nugget stealing punk!" Toon says opening an unauthorized portal and stepping through, only to come out the other side and come face to face with a giant boar. "You'll do!" Toon said and placed some gauntlets on and picked up the thing that was like 10x bigger than him. He turned around and headed back towards the portal and didn't realize the little piglet that followed him through. Once he is through he sets the giant boar down who huffed and trampled over him heading into the woods with a piglet following close behind. "Hey get back here! I need to lock you into Link's room!" He shouted and then just waved it off. "Eh screw it I'll find something else, I'm sure no-one will find out that thing is loose out there." Toon said and walked away whistling nonchalantly….
*flashback end*
"You really outdid yourself this time!" Dark Pit says cracking a smile while she threw a spoon at him which hit the glass dividing their cells.
"This is all technically still your fault asshat!" She retorts.
"How so? Enlighten me princess!" He says with a smirk.
"Stop. Calling. Me. That!" She says.
"Why? You are a princess aren't you?" He asks, plainly holding his hands up.
"Yes but it's annoying when you use it in that context!" She responds and he smirks.
"What context?" He asks innocently
"You know exactly what I mean you asshole," she states.
"Nope! no clue?" He says and leans back with a big grin spread on his face.
"Besides who's stupid idea was it to do the damn 'chain of command' huh?" She says while he crossed his arms.
"No one forced you did they?" He replies smugly.
"Well no… But still!" She quickly adds.
"But nothing, admit it you got nothing sweetheart!" He states while she slams the glass separating them.
"This is all your fault, we're in here because of you, it's always you!" She fires back, turning her back to him.
"Lady you're blaming everything and everyone but yourself and maybe that's the real problem." He says
"You're lucky we're in these damn cells you little prick" She grumbled to herself.
"Or what?" He quickly retorts, "yeah you act all big and mighty while we're locked up but I'd like to see you say that to my face!" He says getting up from the bench.
"You think I'm scared of you? I'll gladly say it to your face! you're not intimidating in the slightest you're a freaking joke!" She responds while they just sort of stood there glaring at each other.
"Oh my freaking-a stars can you-a both just-a SHUT UP ALREADY!" A voice came from across them, "I'm trying to-a sleep!" Wario says sitting up on his bench.
"You don't even need sleep, you need five minutes on a treadmill you plungy bastard!" Pittoo remarks.
"No for reals some of us are trying to sleep" Roy says from across the room lifting his head up, "and it's a little hard to do with all your yelling..." He adds before yawning and setting his head back down.
"Yeah just kiss already sheesh!" DTL says and then turns towards the wall settling on his bench and scratching his butt.
"Ok change of plans I'm kicking your ass first!" Pittoo says pressing his finger on the glass in the direction of DTL. Lucina just scoffed at him and settled into her bunk while Pittoo turned to her. "What got something else to say?" He challenged but she ignored him and turned to face the wall. There was no use arguing with the buffoon anyway it would just lead to more trouble. He whispered something under his breath but she just closed her eyes trying to get some rest.
*the next day*
"Keep scrubbing skippy" Samus said as she walked around the kitchen and caught DTL slacking. They had been sent to scrub the kitchen clean from top to bottom every inch possible. Samus was put in charge of watching them and it was hell, she was most likely picked because no one questions her and she stomps out any and all defiance easily. Punishment is not something she took lightly and she was overworking them on purpose, rumor has it Master Hand gave the Elite Six a scolding for the way the other night played out. Samus took it personally however unlike the others, just yesterday she made then clean every single bathroom in the mansion with toothbrushes. Basically saying if you screw her over you best say your prayers. It wasn't so bad at first, they had Peach be their punishment supervisor and she was chill. Heck oftentimes she'd give them a break and hand out treats. Then Samus stepped in and it turned into a prison sentence rather than a time out. "Wario do we need to have another talk about your lack of work ethic?" She says across the room and Wario just squealed in horror and started scrubbing harder.
"Talk about a dictator…" Toon Link muttered while he washed a large stack of dishes.
"Care to repeat that I didn't quite catch that?" Samus says, appearing behind him makes him freeze.
"I-I uh… Uh must have slipped my mind!" He blurts out and goes back to washing dishes. She just shook her head and walked away.
"Where the hell is Roy!?" Samus shouts from the back seeing that the dishes weren't being put into cupboards. She opens the storage room and catches the redhead who was smacking on a jar of gummies. Samus just sighed and shook her head slowly while Roy smiled sheepishly. "Roy, Roy, Roy how many times must we have this chat?" She says taking him by the shirt and dragging him out back.
"I'm sorry Samus!" He says, "It won't happen again I promise! I swearsies, pinkie promise!" He begged but she ignored his pleas. Just then the back door opened and Peach stepped in.
"What do you want?" Samus says letting go of Roy and crossing her arms.
"You've been relieved of duty" Peach states placing her hands on her hips.
"Say's who?" Samus responds.
"Well I for one, and of course Master Hand!" Peach states while both women stood there and stared each other down. Everyone held their breath as the room turned tense and Roy was on the floor between them rocking back and forth.
"Fine!" Samus finally breaks the silence and heads out the door. Roy instantly looked up with tears of Joy and started kissing Peach's feet.
"Oh thank you thank you thank you!" He says while Peach just kicked him off and looked around.
"Wow good job you guys!" She says impressed on how spotless it all was. Although Samus had told them this place wasn't even clean enough to pass for a barn. "Why don't you guys take a break while I get lunch ready?" Peach says while they all breath a sigh of relief and almost instantly drop to the floor in exhaustion. "Oh I almost forgot! Who wants popsicles!" She says taking a box of frozen treats out of her magic pockets. The others cheered in delight and went to sit out back to enjoy their treat while Peach got to cooking.
Samus however marched towards Master Hand's office intent on confronting him about his decision. 'She treats it like a freaking day care!' She had told him before but he simply waved her off, he was convinced of Peach's ability to handle rule breakers. In her opinion, how was anyone to take authority seriously if you baby them.
"Well now look who's personal feelings got in the way?" She hears behind her. She turns around to see Marth leaning against the wall across from MH's office.
"What do you want?" She simply states while he chuckled.
"I got reinstated into the Elite Six just now, we had a nice long talk about events and I came to my senses after a bit of clouded judgement." He tells her and she gives him a look to say 'get to the point' which he recognised. "Anyway he gave us a special assignment, it is of the utmost importance" he tells her and this seemed to peaked her interest. "There is another newcomer that entered the realm, this time we are to intercept them before any confusion occurs and things get out of a hand, again…" He finished while she nodded.
"Right, let's get started then" she says and they head off towards the lobby.
Meanwhile…
"How much more back breaking labour must we go through!" DTL complained.
"We only have two days left," King Dedede sighed. "I don't understand why we are getting punished for something the Elite Six themselves orchestrated?!" King Dedede says and crosses his arms in a huff.
"Oh believe me they had their do, I don't know the specifics but I heard Master Hand gave them hell." Roy says.
"Could I possibly get two of you to help me?" Peach says appearing at the door.
"I'll help!" Roy says gleefully while getting up.
"No not you…" She says sitting him back down, "you aaaand you will do nice!" She says pointing at Dark Pit and Lucina.
"Are you series?!" Pittoo remarked and sank in his seat.
"Yes, now get your little booty in here or I'll drag it in here!" She warns but very sweetly before she goes back in.
"Might as well see what she wants…" Lucina sighs and heads inside followed by Pittoo who grumbled to himself.
"What?" Pittoo says as he pushed the door open and stepped in. Peach was standing behind a cart with all kinds of ingredients on it.
"Alright I'm a little busy today so instead of therapy today we'll do a team building exercise instead right here in the kitchen!" Peach says excitedly while clapping her hands in delight.
"Yeah I'm out" Pittoo says plainly and turns around.
"I DIDN'T SAY YOU CAN LEAVE!" Peach shouts while pinning him to the wall by throwing a knife at him. She then huffs and goes back to smiling sweetly, "anyway today we'll bake cupcakes!" She says motioning to the cart with the ingredients. "I left detailed instructions here for you to follow and my evaluation to Master Hand will be based on how well you both do these." Peach says and gives them a smile with a glint in her eye. "Right then have fun!" She adds and skips into another part of the kitchen.
"This is bullishit!" Pittoo says while he unstuck himself from the wall.
"Might as well get this over with, if we get a good evaluation Master Hand will stop forcing us to attend mandatory therapy." She says taking the instructions and begins reading them over.
"Ugh carrot cake!" Dark Pit remarked. "Why don't we just poison everyone instead, they'll have a much better time than eating this crap!" He says while she gives him a look.
"Will you stop complaining and help me?" She says, grabbing a large bowl. "Ok so in a mixing bowl throw in some flour…" She says grabbing the measurement cups. "Ok here is the cup" she says, taking a scoop of flour and throwing it into the bowl before getting another. "Ok so next we throw in eggs, water, a little bit of sugar…" She says looking at the ingredients. Pittoo then grabs an egg and grins to himself.
"Hey blue how much do you wanna bet I can throw this egg into that bowl without it breaking?" He says tossing the egg up and down and she gives him a look.
"How stupid do you think I am?" She says and his grin just grew wider.
"You really want me to answer that?" He says and she just sighs and goes back to reading the ingredients.
"Ok now we add the carrots" she says looking around.
"I'm guessing it's this orange pulp…" He says poking the thing with a wooden spoon.
"Well I guess we add that then" she says but he placed his hand over the bowl.
"Now hold on she said she would give us points based on our creativity right?" He says while she thought it over.
"No I think she said to stick to the instructions" she says but he shook his head.
"She didn't outright say it but it was implied" he states, he then takes out a packet from his pockets and shakes it around.
"What is that?" She asks.
"Chewing gum!" He said and held up his hand before she could protest. "Look we could make this nasty shit, or we could make something exciting!" He begins while she looks at him skeptically. "We'll make the first ever bubblegum cupcakes!" He says tossing in the whole packet into the mixture and starting to mix it around creating a purple batter. "She'll be so surprised by our creativity she'll have to give us a positive evaluation!" He says while Lucina just rubbed her arm watching him pour the batter into the cupcake tins.
*moments later*
"Alright how's-" Peach says walking in and sees Lucina fanning the beeping fire alarm while Pittoo looks at the tray of burnt cupcakes with arms crossed. "-Everything…" She says looking at the mess everywhere, somehow they managed to get a glob of batter stuck to the roof.
"Good, Good" Dark Pit says looking around and wiping his head on his sleeve. Luckily however there was a glass bowl of perfectly made cupcakes in the corner away from the mess. Peach tried to walk over to it but nearly tripped and fell because of the slippery floor. "Oh yeah watch your step there, this one had an accident" he says jabbing his thumb back at Lucina.
"Yeah no thanks to you!" She says while she continued to fan the alarm.
"Why are these… So purple?" Peach says picking up a cupcake.
"Oh that's a surprise!" Pittoo says and grins to himself.
"Ok well let's see how the both of you did shall we?" She says peeling back the little paper while the other two stared at her intently. The bottom of the cupcake was blue and green despite the top being purple… she turns and gives them a smile, "cheers!" She says before trying to nervously take a bite. But it was hard to bite into it and felt like it was made of rubber. When she did finally manage to sink her teeth into it it blew up in her face covering her with frosting. Lucina instantly placed her hands over her mouth horrified while Pittoo was trying so hard to contain his laughter. Though he was doing a terrible job of it as indicated by the movements of his shoulders.
"Peach… We are so sorry we didn't…" Lucina began while Peach slowly turned to face them. Her hands shook and Pittoo bit down on his fist to keep from laughing. Peach scrapped the frosting off her face while breathing heavily.
"Both of you… out!" She breathed out.
"B-but-" Lucina began but Peach just pointed at the door.
"OOOOOOOOOUT!" She shouted and they both just looked at each other and left. When they closed the door the glob on the roof fell to the floor with a slimey smack on the ground. She then took a rag out and began wiping her face and as soon as she placed it down she saw MH standing behind the counter.
"Sooo" he begins while tapping his hands on the counter. "How'd it go today?" He says while Peach just puts up a fake smile.
"It went great! Couldn't have gone any better in fact I'd say we're making excellent progress!" She states but Master Hand just kept his gaze on her. "Ok fine it went terrible!" She admits and drops her shoulders and leans over the counter running a hand through her hair.
"Uh huh" Master Hand plainly responds.
"I don't get it" Peach says, "I make progress with them one moment and then the next everything flies out the window!" Peach complains while setting her head down on the counter.
"Well maybe you're going about them the wrong way" Master Hand insists.
"How? Usually by now my patients would be hugging it out" She says, "I mean even Fox and Wolf weren't this difficult and they were my hardest case thus far." She says.
"And maybe that's the problem, you can't treat them like your other patients. Clearly your usual methods wont work on them so maybe it's time to try a different approach with them." He says while Peach thought it over.
"Maybe, but my methods have never failed before!" She says.
"Well, there is always a first for everything" Master Hand admits. "A new challenge always comes with new difficulties" he adds.
"They just need a good kick in the rear" Peach huffs and places her hands on her hips.
"Or perhaps, they could possibly use a simple realisation as to why it is important to rely on each other." He says while she gives him a look.
"If only it was that easy!" She states while he chuckled.
"Maybe it is, you just haven't found the way yet" He says before he turns to leave. "It's time for you to upgrade with the new challenge, the old ways seem to have run their course" he says before he vanishes. Peach just sighed and thought to herself on how she could make this possibly work. They couldn't even cooperate enough to bake simple cupcakes, instead they made edible grenades with half and burnt the other half.
*later that night*
"Yeah great freaking idea 'hey let's be creative!' Pfft what a joke!" Lucina ranted as she paced back and forth in her cell.
"Hey she didn't say she was giving us a bad evaluation did she?" Pittoo replied nonchalantly while leaning back in his bench with his arms behind his head.
"Can you take anything serious?!" She exclaimed while setting down on her bench and running her hands through her hair.
"Come on you guys aren't going to start this AGAIN are you?!" DTL whined as he tossed a ball to himself.
"Just please for one night, just go the frick to sleep!" King Dedede sighs while planting his head against the glass.
"Why don't you just mind your own damn business!" Pittoo retorts.
"It is our business when you keep everyone up at night with your bickering!" DTL adds and stops bouncing his ball around to glare at them.
"Don't worry guys, tonight everyone will sleep tight" Roy speaks up while waving them off.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Lucina says turning to the redhead.
"Oh you'll see" he says with a sadistic grin, "you'll all see."
"Roy…" Lucina said slowly, but he just laid on his bench and snuggled into it. Just then they hear a hiss from the vents and some kind of white smoke starts to fill the room. "What. Did. You. Do!" Lucina says slamming her hand against the glass.
"Nite nite everyone!" He says in a gigglish voice.
"Roy when I get my hands on you I'm gonna… Im… Gonna..." King Dedede begins as his cell fills with smoke. He starts wobbling back and forth before he falls face first onto the floor snoring loudly.
"Roy you idiot when I gave you that it was for you just put them to sleep!" DTL shouts while pointing at the duo.
"Where is the fun in that?" Roy laughed while the little hylian panicked and rushed towards the back.
"Screw this I'm out of here!" DTL states and begins tugging on the lid leading into the vents. Just then he is blasted in the face with the smoke shooting out of the vents. He drops to the floor all limp and snoozing away. Roy starts laughing like a maniac as Lucina slowly falls to the floor holding a hand over her nose and mouth, but she can't hold her breath forever and succumbs.
"Touche" Pittoo says before his legs give in and he falls to the floor, his eyelids weighed a ton at the moment and he couldn't keep them open…
*The Next Morning…*
Everyone stood in line awaiting assignments while the majority of the group glared at Roy. The red head however just smiled stupidly to himself looking quite pleased with himself. Just then the door in the back opened up and Peach skipped into the room with her hands behind her back. "Well I have some good news and bad news!" She says leaning forward with a large smile on her face. "First things first though, you are all free to go now!" She said all giddy.
"Wait what?" Roy blurted out.
"Yeah you're all released on good behavior, you have been good little boys and girls. That and, Samus said she's tired of babysitting." Peach replied while the others looked at each other with excited grins.
"Bitchin!" Pittoo says pumping his fist into the air. Peach however just gave him a look and told everyone to scoot. But right as Lucina and Dark Pit were about to pass her she held out her arm stopping them.
"Not you" she says sternly, "you're not off the hook just yet." She says as a slight smile comes on her face.
"Are you kidding me, thats bullshit!" Pittoo protested while fuming. Lucina tugged on his arm giving him a look saying 'just go with it' knowing how Peach is. They had a conversation about just doing whatever silly thing Peach came up with so she'll leave them alone. 'She'll get bored of this eventually' they agreed thinking no one can be that relentless.
"Fine what do you want" Pittoo says with a visible frown.
"Today we're going on an adventure!" Peach said excitedly while hopping in place.
"Wait but today isn't our designated meeting day?" Lucina spoke up but then instantly clamped her mouth shut when Peach turned to her. She was mentally kicking herself thinking how stupid that was, Peach always pushed more whenever they complained.
"Well I decide when we meet and don't meet" Peach says while tapping her on the nose. "Now let's get started!" She says taking their hands and walking out into the back. They eventually start walking into the woods and at this point she lets go of their hands. "Ok you two now this is the part where we part." she begins, "the trail has been set up for you to traverse" she said motioning them forward. The duo looked at each other and then shrugged and then proceeded forward. This seemed easy enough just a stroll through the woods. What could go wrong?
"So…" Lucina started while they walked down the path, Pittoo shifted his glance at her as they kept walking. "Where exactly were you?" She asked while he looked dead ahead again and a smirk appeared on his face.
"Why so curious, did you miss me?" He said in a mocking tone but she just groaned internally to herself. Although she had to admit she was more than curious about where he was during the events of that night. It was never made clear what happened to him after he left the room with Dark Link, even after Mewtwo tapped into her lost memories. She slightly shook her head and just focused on the path. No point in asking him it was obvious he wouldn't say, most likely because unlike her he didn't get his memories back. When they were well into the path she suddenly got a weird feeling of dread. Something didn't feel right, she turned to Pittoo but he didn't seem bothered in the slightest. He just kept walking with his hands behind his head totally nonchalant. She suddenly stopped when the feeling got worse, something was definitely wrong. "What is it now?" He said in a bored tone and turned to face her when he noticed she stopped. She ignored him as her eyes glanced around the vicinity quickly taking in their surroundings. "Hey are the lights on in there?" He suddenly says snapping in her face. She turns to give him a look for his sudden rudeness.
"Something is up" she says to him in almost a whisper.
"Oh yeah how so?" He says while mentally rolling his eyes.
"I don't know… i just got this-" she began to explain before something caught her eye. Up on the branches of a nearby tree there was a camera camouflaged into the tree, she only noticed when the sunlight glinted off of the lense. There was a tiny red light blinking on it indicating that it was in use. Dark Pit followed her gaze and saw it too but then pretended not to notice. He whispered to her not to look and motioned behind them from where they came. He told her to start slowly moving back before they hear static throughout the vicinity. Before long they could hear loud and clear a voice through a hidden speaker.
"What? Giving up already I'm disappointed." Peach said followed by a giggle.
"What the hell are you playing at?" Pittoo demanded while staring straight at the camera. There was a brief moment of silence before they heard an audible sigh from the loud speakers.
"Isn't there anything you will ever agree on?" She says, "no matter what you guys can't even complete one task, so of course I had to keep an eye on you" She says then they hear shuffling of something like paper through the speakers.
"Cause this is all stupid, whats the point of all this crap anyway!" He begins losing his cool. "Why can't anyone just mind their own damn business, this is pointless!" He says while Lucina tugged on his sleeve telling him to shut up knowing he was making things worse.
"Really because there have been constant noise complaints aimed at you both, that and you both are always causing a ruckus at every chance. Obviously something needs to be done and I'll be damned if you think I'll just stand by and let it happen!" Peach instantly retorts but Pittoo scoffs and throws his arms around Lucina.
"What are you talking about you crazy woman, we're like the best of friends!" He claimed and ruffled her hair while Peach just laughed out loud.
"Now you're delusional?" She asked and he let go of the bluenette.
"The hell is that supposed to mean?" He says while Peach sounded like she was still shuffling through papers. He mumbled under his breath and that's when Lucina finally spoke up.
"Just ignore him, he's just cranky because it's still early," Lucina assures the princess. "I promise we'll cooperate with you" she said and looked at the camera waiting for the longest time before Peach said anything.
"Oh trust me, this time you'll cooperate for sure!" She said as they heard constant flicker as she messed with some sort of controls. Before the duo could ask however the ground below them shook.
"Peach what are you up to now?" Lucina said cautiously before the ground finally gave way and they both fell into a dark room.
"If you want to kill us just do it already you crazy bitch!" Pittoo groaned from the other side of the dark room. They both slowly get up as the room gets illuminated with bluish white light. They look around and see a large wooden door at the end. There was a small bed in the back and next to it a small night stand with a mug and a night lamp. There was an alarm clock hiding behind the lamp with a small sheet of paper and a pen. There was a large dresser off to the side of that with a large mirror, on the other side of the room sat a large wardrobe with two large wooden doors. In front of it sat a small round table with two seats and a glass vase with flowers. There were also two dragon heads mounted on the wall one green and one red. Next to the bed was a large oil painting of Master Hand in his human form, it looked awfully fancy like if it were a presidential portrait. Lastly was the note on the table that was bright pink so it was hard to miss.
Lucina walks over to it and picks it up and gives it a quick read to see what's up.
Hello troubled duo, this is an escape room! To escape it you will need to solve a series of puzzles and gimmicks that require careful coordination. If you can't overcome your differences and work together then I'm afraid you'll just be stuck here until you do. Good luck and we await your results at the end of the maze! Also evaluation will be based upon how fast you both can traverse the rooms.
Sighed -Princess Peach Toadstool
Lucina just stared at the paper in shock at what she read. She was stuck in a room with the most uncooperative person and expected to escape with him. "I'm done playing these games I'm getting out of here!" Pittoo says heading toward the door trying to turn the knob only to find it locked. He then gets frustrated after fumbling and begins slamming into the door with his shoulder. "I'm getting out one way or another!" He states as a matter of fact. Just then Lucina noticed a small spark form on the corners of the door.
"Um you might not want to do that…" she says watching the door build up energy.
"Why. The. Hell. Not!" He says while he kept ramming the door and it began creaking hard. Just then a large spark flies out and strikes Pittoo sending him flying back and crashing on the back wall out cold. There wouldn't be an easy way out and it looked like a nasty shock awaited them if they didn't play by the rules.
*In the mansion*
"Alright then chop chop, preparations should be done by tomorrow." MH said, clapping his hands and the Elite Six raised from their seats. "Say Peach?" He asked, making the blonde stop and turn in her heels. "How'd it go today?" He adds while Peach just smiled innocently and giggled.
"Well I took them out for a walk today if you catch my drift" she says with a wink.
"Hmm, pulling out the big guns I see" MH says leaning back in his large chair looking in thought.
"You did what?!" Zelda exclaimed while overhearing them, "with all due respect sir I think you've just made a grave mistake!" She says walking up to MH. "They barely get along and the boy has violent tendencies most days and now you've stuck them both in an inescapable room." She says but MH seemed more sure in the plan than himself.
"Oh come now this never failed before, in fact this is what brought Ganondorf and Link and agreed to some sort of truce. Well after they tried to kill each other a few times..." He informed the hylian princess who turned to Peach.
"You think Marth would appreciate the fact that you locked up his great granddaughter up with her partner so they could try to kill each other?" She states but the pink princess just scoffed and waved her off.
"He's busy with a special assignment and there is really no reason for him to know, right?" Master Hand responded and stood from his seat and undid his tie a little and leaned against the table.
"Fine!" Zelda states as MH kept a hard gaze on her, "but this is going to blow up in both your faces and I'll be here to tell you so when it does." She says before she turns and heads out the door.
"She doesn't know what she's talking about," Peach said assuringly.
"Then you better hope for your sake she's wrong." MH adds before Peach smiled nervously before heading out the door.
*back in the escape room*
Dark Pit slowly groaned as he regained consciousness and looked around. He was lying on the bed in the corner and looked up to see Lucina standing on the table. She had her hand outstretched clutching her phone and waving it around. "blast!" She says getting down from the table and sees him sitting up. "I can't get a signal" she states with a frustrated sigh.
"What good would that do anyway?" He says getting out of bed and looking around.
"Well I could call for help!" She states but he scoffs at her reply.
"Call who, and what could anyone do they wont even know how to find us. We don't even know where we are!" He says flailing his arms about.
"Then I guess we better play by the rules if we want to get out." She says taking the note and flipping it over to the back side. "Inside this room you'll find clues that will help you unlock the key" she says as she reads and they look around the room.
"This is stupid" he mutters to himself.
"Stop it, focus!" She says and they keep looking. Just then he started eyeing the large portrait in the back.
"I wonder…" he said while walking towards it, "I saw this in a movie once." He says while removing the portrait to find a safe behind it. There was a small note stuck to it and he tore it off and began to read. "To get the code to open the safe, you need to solve this puzzle. How many fighters were in the first smash? How many stages?" Pittoo read then turned to Lucina who's eyes lit up. "How the hell do they expect us to know that shit?"
"I can do this, I remember reading up on the first tournament on my many visits to the library." She states and walks up to the little pad. So there were like 8 initial fighters, and 4 secret ones revealed later on." She begins, "as for the stages there was one representing each world respectively, so like 9. But there was an additional 5 for those who took the challenge of getting through several fighters before facing Master Hand himself. Making our magic number 14!" She says. "1-2-1-4" she repeats as she punches the numbers in on the keypad. They hear a click and the safe door swings open, inside they find a key mold.
"The hell we do with this?" Pittoo says waving it around. Lucina took it and inspected it before she smirked.
"That's how we get out of here!" She says. "Look around the room and gather anything you can find even if it doesn't seem important." She says and he just scratched his head and began looking with her.
They gather some clay powder from the drawers and a bucker from the wardrobe. They get water from the vase on the table and mix it with the clay, they then fill in the key mold and slip it into a furnace that was hidden behind the wardrobe. After a while they take out the mold and slip out a perfect key and grin to themselves.
"Finally! Let's get the hell out of here!" Pittoo states and begins walking to the door and slips in the key. They hear a click and the door creaks open and they enter a long hall. They soon spot another note stuck to the other side of the door. "Congratulations, you've made it through the first part, two more to go!" Pittoo read aloud before crumbling the note. "Are you freaking shitting me?!" He says and slams a fist against the wall. Lucina however ignored him and began looking around for clues. They see a crank at the end of the hall and she studies it for a bit before she begins to turn it. They then see a bookshelf near the back begin to shift out of the way revealing another path. However the crank only went so far before it would go further. She lets go and the bookshelf slides back into place concealing the secret path.
"Only one of us can go through at a time…" she states while he sighs and heads towards the crank.
"Go there must be a lever on the other side to get me through," he says before pulling the crank and opening up the path. She quickly slips in and looks around the new area as the bookshelf slides back into pace. She slots another crank and turns it allowing him to enter the new room. There they had to use a bucket and a jug to get the right amount of water needed to get a key. From there they needed to shift pictures sections to form a portrait of a smash ball. Along the way they get little hard puppets of themselves which felt like they were filled with cement. There was a large block that almost crushed Lucina to death as she waited for Pittoo to reverse the mechanism, but he took his time and she spent every ounce of strength she had to keep from getting crushed. Needless to say she was exhausted after that and was barely keeping up anymore. It seemed to be going very well until they reached the end and faced the exit door.
"For this last contraption, you will need to make a self sacrifice" Lucina read a plaque next to the narrow hall leading to a door. Pittoo was about to step forward before she held out her hand stopping him from going forward.
"What now, let's just get out of here I'm getting hungry!" He protested but she took the handle of a broken lever and tossed it in the hall. There was a slight rumble before large spikes shot out from different directions crushing the thing into pieces instantly.
"What kind of bullshit is this!" He says frustrated.
"Those mechanisms look old and if there is a large enough object to throw in they will jam." Lucina says before they looked around the room but there was nothing of significant size. He then turned to look at the plaque next to the hall then back at Lucina. He takes hold on her arm tightly while he grins to himself.
"It says it requires a sacrifice right?" He says while her eyes go wide knowing exactly what he intended to do. She tried to pull back her arm but she barely had any strength left due to their earlier escapades.
"You are not throwing me in that you self centered asshole!" She exclaimed tugging on her arm but his hold tightened.
"I'm tired of this and want to go home, was it not you who said pay by the rules. Well sweetheart I'm just doing what the game demands." He states and begins dragging her over to the little hall of death. "This is happening one way or another!" He says ready to shove her in but before he could she grabs hold of a vase nearby and smashes it on his head. He finally lets go and clutches his head while grunting in pain. She knew she wouldn't be able to fight him off being that exhausted so she opted to run and look for a place to hide. He growls in anger and quickly turns around watching her speed walk away from him. "Where do you think you're going?" He says and runs after her and catches her effortlessly. He catches her again and places her in a hold while dragging her back towards the door. "Why are you fighting this, didn't you say you wanted to leave as soon as possible!?" He says trying to keep her from struggling.
"Not like this!" She retorts and begins pulling on his hair as hard as she could.
"You're starting to piss me off!" He states while raising his voice.
"Good, I don't care!" She fires back before she begins clawing at his face. This finally makes him release the hold he had on her to cover shield himself as she tried jabbing his eyes. She turns around and begins to smack him repeatedly only annoying him further. He takes hold of both her arms with his before giving her a savage headbutt. She sees black dots dancing in her vision as she hits the floor in a daze. He slightly shook his head and stumbled back from the impact before he composed himself. He grabs the collar of her coat and begins dragging her towards the entrance again. She began to kick and struggle trying to break free. "Stop! Stop you jerk this isn't funny anymore!" She says in a panicked voice.
"You can say that again!" He says in a very annoyed tone, he was so done with this. "If that psycho expects me to jump into that contraption for her amusement she has another thing coming." He says in a low voice. Her luck hadn't run out however as she sees a small smooth rock they acquired earlier put on a pressure plate. She takes it into her hands as they pass it by and she begins to smash his fingers with it. He cried out and quickly pulled back his hand holding it in pain. "Don't make this any harder than it needs to be!" He says in a low threatening voice.
"Go to hell!" She shouted furiously at him, he just threw his head back and laughed at her.
"I'm already there," he says. She tightly clutched the rock in her hand waiting for him to make a move. When he eventually did she smashed it against his head making him fall to the floor. He just lifted his head to grin at her however. "Is that all you got?" He says but before he could get up she threw the rock at him making him curl up in defense. She then took the chance to try to get away from him. He gets up and sees something glinting in a bag nearby making him grin to himself psychotically. Just as Lucina was about to leave the room she hears a loud thwack and feels a really sharp pain on her leg. She falls to the floor clutching her leg as she turns to look at Pittoo holding a hammer and smiling to himself. "Checkmate" he says while smacking his palm with it.
"What the fuck is wrong with you?!" She cried out while holding her leg. Had it not been for the protective barrier the lunatic could have shattered her leg. That still didn't mean it didn't hurt like hell because it did.
"Ensuring our escape…" He breathed out then pointed at her with the hammer. "Now will you cooperate like we're supposed to or do I need to break something else?" He says while smiling to himself, he practically held all the cards. She wasn't quite out for the count however, she reached into her coat pocket feeling around for a certain item. She thanked everything that's holy at that moment when she felt the little baggie of clay dust in her coat. She grabs a handful of it stealthily as he reaches over to try and take her again. She throws it in his eyes and he reels back dropping the hammer and covering his eyes. But she didn't stop there however she gave him a hard shove and dropped him to the floor. "Yeah you better run!" He says while she quickly limps away putting as much distance between them as possible.
*meanwhile*
"Is this what you wanted?" Zelda says pointing at the monitor they both stared at. They both watch them begin to fight as Pittoo tries to shove her into the crusher.
"What are they doing? That's not how the puzzle goes!" She states while frustratingly groaning. They both then stood from their seats when he went at her with a hammer. "Oh. My. Stars!" She exclaimed in shock, "what is he doing?!" She says stunned.
"Exactly what you set them up for, how did you think this was going to go?" Zelda says then sternly points at the monitor, "get them out of there now!" She demands but Peach just looked at her worriedly.
"I can't…" The princess mumbled.
"What do you mean you can't?" Zelda says in disbelief. "Just teleport them the hell out of there!" She says placing her hands on her hips.
"Just what I said all magic and outside interference is voided in there. That's why it's called an escape room, there is only one escape!" Peach blurts out and turns to look back at the screen, Dark Pit stood over Lucina clutching the hammer tightly in his hands.
"Well you better find a way to get them out of there, Peach you can't let him throw her in there and vice versa. You remember what happened when Ganon threw Link in there don't you? He was bed ridden for days in the infirmary recovering from his injuries, even then I don't think he ever fully healed he still walks funny from time to time." Zelda tells the other princess who fumbled with her controls. "I've also told you many times to change the wording so others don't interpret it wrong!"
"I'm trying but there isn't much I can do!" She says while Zelda turns to leave.
"We better get Master Hand involved before either of them does something regrettable." Zelda says before Peach grabbed her arm.
"No!" She shouts, "I'm still in control!" She insists and turns back to the monitor. They see Lucina limping away while Pittoo slowly goes after her trying to regain his vision using the wall to guide his way.
*the duo*
"You're not scared are you?" He mocks, "what happened to all that sass?" He says occasionally wiping his eyes to clear his vision. She was however trying to catch her breath while deciding her next move. She clutched her leg that was still throbbing and slowing her down. Had she not been so tired she would've given him his just deserves. "You're only delaying the inevitable, so why don't we cut to the chase?" He says, sounding much closer than before. She tightly grits her teeth and presses on trying to push through the pain that shot up her leg. Just when she thought things couldn't get any worse she hears a loud crash and the lights go out…
Heh ok so again this was supposed to release earlier, like before the weekend but I got side tracked again. Still it's better than a 4 month wait right?
Also, also I heard reviews are nice this time of year. Until next time Toodles! (* ^∀^)ﾉｼ
Next Chapter: The Best I Strife to be…