"The tournament is cancelled."
Ness couldn't believe his ears as Master Hand spoke in a quiet tone, sounding forlorn and lost. The twelve stared in stunned disbelief at the giant glove, different expressions on their faces - shock, horror, depression. He slowly shook his head. "No. It's not cancelled! We haven't even reached the elimination period yet - they named the town after the tournament, for goodness sakes! How is it gonna be Smashville if we're not around?!" Ness was distantly aware his ramblings were bordering on incoherent, but he didn't care.
The tournament had been his life for the past year. (Well, in theory. Time flowed differently here - although his birthday had long since come and gone, he was still fourteen. This place ran on a time of its own) To have it suddenly stripped from him...it was too cruel, too soon! No one had even won. This was outrageous!
"It's cancelled." Master Hand repeated tiredly.
"B-but...why?" Luigi frowned, clearly upset.
"Bankruptcy." The glove murmured. There were several collective gasps from the Smashers. Bankruptcy? How had it happened?
"That's ridiculous!" Falcon slammed his fist on the table, rattling the dishes from their now-abandoned lunch. "We're more popular than ever! People from all over come to see our matches - they're wild for us!"
"Fans doesn't necessarily equate income." Master Hand spoke dully.
"Then-a we should feed off-a the popularity!" Mario declared, standing up. "We could-a do autographs for a fee, or-a..." He placed his hand on his chin, thinking a moment, before snapping his fingers with a hearty nod. "We could do-a T-Shirts! Fans-a love those."
"True!" Ness nodded enthusiastically. "Bootleggers are always trying to hawk those in the town square. Some guy tried to sell me a shirt when I was last in town - thought he was gonna have a heart attack when I pulled off my hood and showed who I was!" He grinned fondly at the memory, but his smile quickly dimmed as he released things like that - little moments that made this tournament so memorable - were potentially over.
"It's too late." Master Hand swept the statement away with a flick of his fingers. "We just can't raise the amount of money needed in this short of time. In fact..." The glove paused, obviously reluctant to speak. "...We're being evicted from the house tonight." He finally cringed out.
"WHAT?!" A collective yell arose from them all, eyes widening in horror.
"No!" Samus yelled, nearly breaking her water glass from how tightly she was squeezing it. "There must be something we can do!"
"We have money!" Ness jerked his head up. "Surely there's an exchange rate between the currency here and Eaglelandian dollars. I'll give every cent I have if it means saving this place!"
There were a few cries of agreement around the table. Link raised a hand. "I have rupees."
"And we have-a coins!" Mario pointed to himself and Luigi. Ness felt his hopes start to raise. Maybe they could save their home, and the tournament!
This hope was extinguished as fire in the rain with Master Hand's next words. "Your generosity speaks volumes to me, but it would never be enough to repay the debt that has occurred."
"How? How did we get in debt?" Falcon slowly shook his head, looking as though he longed to deny it all.
"My brother." The glove spoke solemnly. "I'm afraid he has...a gambling addiction. By the time I found out he stole our money, it...it was far too late. I'm afraid he's been posing as me for quite some time to hide his shameful exploits. I have no proof against him. I'm...going to jail, I'm afraid."
"JAIL?!" Ness fell out of his chair he flung himself so far back. "NO! You're innocent, they can't convict you...what kind of piece of crap legal system does this world have?!" His anger was itching in his hands, begging to be released through a psychic outburst. He bit his lip, willing himself to calm down, before he exploded something with his mind. That tended to happen when he was upset.
"Calm yourself, Ness." Master Hand's voice took on a slightly gentler tone as he noticed him barely keeping his energy in check. "I know you are upset, but there is nothing we can do. I have arranged for you all to be taken to your homes at six tonight. I thank you all for your support and bravery, fighting in this tournament. It has been a joy, truly, to host you. I recommend you go pack now. I will take care of the dishes."
Stunned silence filled the room, before Kirby let out a mournful cry. Ness was unsure if the puffball even knew what was going on, but even if he didn't, he could tell something was wrong by the devastated look on everyone's face.
Me too, Kirby. Ness thought emotionally. Me too.
Packing his belongings was a quiet affair. It felt strange to see his room so bare - he was used to it having a well-worn, comfortable look. Many Smashers had customized their rooms, and Ness was no exception. His half of the room had several posters on the walls - one of the Runaway Five, autographed by all its members, another of his favorite baseball team, the Fourside Fanatics, and several pictures of his friends and family. But now there was nothing - just empty wall.
It looked wrong.
It felt wrong.
Glancing over, Ness saw Pikachu pacing his side of the room. The mouse didn't have many possessions - no clothes, of course, and the only thing he had decorated his half of the room with were a few assorted leaves and branches he had gathered from outside. He was tugging them off the bed periodically, then jumping back down and pacing again. Ness was fairly certain you didn't need to be a psychic to feel the gloom coming off Pikachu in waves.
"It's not right." Ness spoke after a moment, scuffing the edge of his bed with his shoe. "I love Onett, and it will be nice to see my family again, but...losing this family is gonna hurt a lot." He admitted. Lightly brushing the wall with his fingertips, he was surprised to find himself slightly emotional, blinking back water that was fast gathering in the corners of his eyes. "I love you guys, you know? Even the people I thought I didn't like much, like Falcon and Fox and...well, even you. Can you believe we fought over such a stupid thing when we first got here? All because I accidentally stepped on you!" He gave a weak laugh as Pikachu squeaked in agreement, coming over to stand beside Ness.
"And now it's over." Pikachu forlornly hung his head, a few sad noises punctuating his sentence.
"Yeah." Ness managed to speak around the growing lump in his throat. "And we never even got to see who would win the tournament." He sighed, sealing his suitcase shut with a telekinetic nudge. "At least we'll always have the memories, right? I won't forget you, Pikachu, or Samus, or Mario, or anyone, really."
"I know I won't forget you." Ness jumped in surprise at the new voice. He had been so lost in reminiscing that he hadn't sensed Samus standing in the doorframe.
"Come on." She beckoned the two of them with a wave of her hand. "We're going through a walk around of the house before we leave." The psychic and rodent turned to follow her as she led the way to where the others were waiting. Like a parade of sorts, they gathered behind Mario and followed his lead as they set off on their final tour.
"It-a feels strange." Luigi said softly. "We've-a passed everything around-a us hundreds of times, and-a yet... we're-a just now really looking-a at it all."
"It really does feel like a closing." Jigglypuff let out a small whimper at the end of her statement, which Ness translated for the group.
They arrived in the living room after descending down the stairs. "We never did tell Master Hand about the couch, did we?" Fox spoke, scratching his head.
"Nope." Yoshi shook his head.
"Oh, he knows." Samus shrugged. "He asked me about it once. He knew from the moment he saw it it wasn't the right couch, but he found us tiptoeing around the subject amusing."
"What even is that glove's sense of humor?" Fox seemed bemused, blinking as he sighed. "I'll never understand it, that's for sure..."
"He tries to act all tough, but he's not. Not around us, anyway." Ness closed his eyes, seeing a clear, frigid night in his mind. Strange to think that was a while ago...
"He's tough around others." Link piped up with a grunt. "That one time..." There were a few nods of agreement from some of the Smashers.
Ness couldn't recall exactly what they were referring to. Raising a tentative hand as though he was in school, he asked, "Uh, I'm lost. What incident are you referring to?" He was relieved to see a few others as confused as he was, looking towards Link expectantly.
"Kirby and I were out." The swordsman began. "Some fans mobbed us. Wouldn't leave. They were even upsetting Kirby." Ness glanced at the puffball, who gazed back at him with a curious expression. It was hard to picture paparazzi harassing Kirby enough to make him upset.
"We ran for the bus. Tried to get away. They followed us on. Wouldn't stop shouting and trying to get our attention. We got off at the House and they did too. Followed us right up to the porch." Link scowled. "We wanted them to go away. They wouldn't listen.
"Master Hand came out after a minute and told us to go inside. We did, but I watched from the window. The people tried to bother him, but he said something. Couldn't hear what."
"Whatever it-a was, it scared them. They took-a off running, not even waiting for the-a bus. And-a one of them-a screamed." Mario added. "I was-a at the window too."
"He's pretty great." Falcon said quietly. There was a general murmur of agreement from the rest.
The rest of their tour was mostly solemn, occasionally pointing out memories from each room.
I can't believe it's over. Ness thought. I just can't believe it.
Standing out on the lawn with their suitcases packed, the twelve stared quietly at the place that was their home. A light rain was following, and Ness shivered from the cold water.
"I guess we're not ever gonna see each other again." Ness whispered. He swallowed a lump in his throat at the thought.
"Don't-a say that." Mario managed a small smile. "Let's-a think of it as a 'goodbye-a 'til we meet again.' It's-a better that way. You-a never know where-a your journeys will-a take you."
Slowly, a black car rolled up, one of the same mysterious cars that brought them here in the first place. The window slowly rolled down. "Mario brothers." The driver called, so cloaked in shadow it was impossible to see their face.
"Goodbye-a, everyone! Until we meet again!" Mario declared with a grin, whereas Luigi only gave a small wave and a smile. This continued along, with black cars pulling up and taking them away depending on their respective worlds and where they lived therein.
When his own car rolled up, Ness turned to Samus, who was still waiting. He tried to speak - tell her something, anything - but his throat was just too dry. Instead he quickly wrapped his arms around her in a hug, much to her surprise. She stiffened, but relaxed a second later and briefly returned it.
Pulling away, Ness opened the car door. "See ya, hope life's good to you." He called to Samus, Jigglypuff, Pikachu and Fox, the four still waiting. He shut the door quickly after getting inside so no one would see how overwhelmed with emotion he was getting.
Placing his suitcase on the seat adjacent, he closed his eyes. He might as well sleep on the way to Onett.
It sure was strange Master Hand hadn't come to see them off, though.
Ness awoke a while later and blinked at the dazzling light coming through the window nearby him. Sitting up, he glanced out and gasped at what he saw.
A beach with beautiful white sand complimented the deep shade of the sea, lapping up on shore lethargically. Palm trees swayed gracefully in the wind and a striking sunset illuminated the world in shades of pastel pink and purple.
This definitely wasn't Onett.
"What's going on?" Ness demanded, sitting upright. The driver did not answer, but rolled up to a nice looking building. Around him were the black cars of the others, looking equally as confused as they stepped out.
Ness pulled open the door and at once got out, looking around. Floating majestically down from the stairs of the building was Master Hand. He could practically feel the smug satisfaction rolling off the glove in waves.
"What's going on? You said we were being evicted!" Falcon exclaimed, looking up at Master Hand.
"Did none of you check the date?" Master Hand chuckled quietly. "I know we went over what today was last year."
"April Fool's Day!" Ness smacked his head with his hand. "This was all an April Fool's Day prank?!"
"It wasn't funny!" Samus declared with a glower.
"Well, Smashers, you are not being evicted, the tournament is going on strong, and I am not going to jail. Did you honestly believe any jail could hold me? I should be insulted at you undermining my power like that." He laughed once again, shaking his pointer finger as though scolding, though his tone was lighthearted. "No, Smashers, instead, you have the week off to spend a spring break of sorts here. Additionally, I had you pack all your belongings because a crew is coming in to repaint and recarpet the rooms. I know the decor has been a bit...dated."
"This...this is-a great!" Mario brightened. Donkey Kong let out an enthusiastic whoop beside him. "Let's-a go and see the hotel rooms!" Enthusiastically, he bounded towards the doors, several following. Ness instead approached Master Hand.
"I've never been so glad for your weird sense of humor." Ness sighed. "It does seem kind of ridiculous thinking about it now. Let me guess, you don't even have a brother."
"Oh, I do. He's not a gambler, but I don't think you would want to meet him." Master Hand stated.
"Why?"
"He's a bit...crazy."
Happy April Fool's Day, y'all. Life played a prank on me and now I'm sick. Again.
I love my interpretation of Master Hand too much. Also, Link being a chatterbox for once.
Thanks for reading and supporting, y'all. Your reviews mean a lot and I appreciate your criticism! I know I'm not terribly in character and there are several characters I have yet to touch on. Thanks for being patient. I'll try to do better.
I love y'all!
Discord: fGm5NBB
-EBC