And a good day to all of you! How's it going? Are you ready for another chapter? Excellent.

This chapter, I've decided to have Shulk and Lucina interact a little more than usual. Let's jump right into it, shall we?

EyeofAmetyst07: Since I mostly only play Smash online now, I've forgotten how much the Shulk CPU spams Buster. My bad. I'll tone it down a bit in all future fights. It would get a bit annoying if Shulk did that for every single fight. Regardless, I'm glad you liked the rest of the chapter and I hope you like what comes next.

ZachaRicO: Thank you. I'm glad you think so highly of my story and I hope you like what I've got planned in the future. Also, I'll try and keep a few of your criticisms in mind when writing future chapters.

Super Smash Brothers © Nintendo/Masahiro Sakurai

*Smash Mansion dining hall*

*9:00 AM*

All the Smashers were gathered for breakfast in the dining hall. Like every meal, breakfast consisted of food from all the Smasher's home worlds. Shulk had decided to get something from Mario's world. A type of bread product called a bagel. He also got himself a cup of tea to drink. After getting his food, Shulk proceeded to a register to pay for his food.

"That will be 15 Smash coins." A Mii said at the register.

"Here ya go." Shulk said, handing the Mii the correct change.

All the newcomers had been given 100 Smash coins at the start of the tournament, and had been advised to only use them for food at first, as certain parts of the tournament, such as Classic Mode and the newly introduced Master/Crazy Orders, cost a lot of Smash coins to participate in. They had also been advised to save up their coins so they could later participate in these events. It cost a lot, sure, but the rewards could potentially be greater than the cost.

Shulk wandered the dining hall looking for a place to sit. Eventually, he found an empty table in the corner and decided to sit there. He wondered why the dining hall didn't have more tables when there were close to 50 competitors in this tournament. He made a mental note to bring this up to Master Hand later. Maybe he just didn't have time to expand the dining hall yet, given the last tournament just ended.

Shulk had just taken a sip of his tea when he saw Lucina and a man with white hair and a black robe also looking for a table. Shulk decided to invite them over to his table.

"Oi! Lucina, over here!" Shulk beckoned.

Lucina and her companion looked over at Shulk and saw that his table had some empty seats.

"Wanna sit here? There's a few seats open here."

Lucina and her friend walked over to the table and took a seat.

"You have my thanks, Shulk. Oh, this is Robin, my father's best friend. He came here with me." Lucina said, introducing her friend.

"'ello, Robin. Nice to meet you." Shulk said, shaking his hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you as well, Shulk. Lucina has spoken quite highly of you thus far." Robin said.

"Well, I'm glad she likes me." Shulk replied.

Shulk took a bite of his food after he spoke. He thought it was alright, but would be better if it was warmer. He spotted a series of toasters and microwaves sitting on a table not far from where he was.

"If you'll excuse me a moment, I'm gonna heat up my food a bit." Shulk stated.

"How do you intend to do that? I see no fire around." Lucina said.

"Er, no. I'm using those things there." Shulk said, gesturing to the microwaves.

Shulk then headed off toward the table. Lucina and Robin followed, wondering what Shulk was doing. From their perspective, he was heading to a table with a bunch of strange looking metal boxes.

"What are those things for?" Lucina asked.

"They're supposed to heat up food in a short amount of time. We actually have some similar devices in my world. Granted, I've never seen them like this before, but someone named Ness showed me how they worked yesterday at dinner." Shulk explained.

Shulk then put his food in the microwave, set the timer for one minute, and started it. Once it was done, Shulk pulled it out and took a bite.

"Not quite ready yet." He said, putting it back in.

"Fascinating. What did you say they were called again?" Robin asked.

"Microwaves." Shulk replied.

"Intriguing. I'm glad that we no longer have to wait so long to make old food warm again. So, all that aside, how have your fights been going so far? I'm interested to see how your combat skills are." Robin asked.

"So far, so good. I've only had a couple since I came here, but I've been doing good. However, I feel like things are about to get a bit more interesting. That things will really get…"

Just then, the microwave went off again, and Shulk gestured to them again.

"…heated up." Shulk finished.

Robin let out a chuckle at the terrible joke, but Lucina's expression didn't change.

"You're not much one for humour, are you?" Shulk asked her.

"No. I've never much seen the fidelity of humor, given the dark times I grew up in. Others have called me out on it, but it's just who I am." She replied.

"No worries. I never meant that you were annoying for it or anything. Far from it, actually. It's just not a strength of yours." Shulk said.

Lucina actually found herself smiling slightly at the fact that Shulk didn't berate her for not having much of a sense of humor. But then she frowned again, thinking of Inigo. Without another word, she went back to the table to eat.

"What's with her? Did I say something wrong?" Shulk asked Robin.

"No. it's nothing to do with you, Shulk." Robin stated. "The thing is…"

After breakfast and a match with the one called Captain Falcon, Lucina went on a walk around the mansion. Eventually, she found herself in the library. She had heard that it was a good place to be when you wanted a little quiet. She had just taken a seat in one of the chairs when she saw Shulk sitting in one of the other chairs, reading a book. He noticed her looking at him and set his book to the side.

"Hey Lucina. What brings you here?" Shulk asked.

"Oh, hello, Shulk. I was simply trying to find a quiet place to think." She responded.

"Ah, I see. Well in that case, I don't want to disturb you, so, I'll be on my way." Shulk said.

"No, it's alright. I don't mind if you stay. Though, I appreciate the offer." Lucina replied.

"No problem. I was just hoping to make a good impression." Shulk replied.

"Well, I believe you have succeeded." Lucina said.

"Well, thanks. I was hoping to get a few people to like me. I didn't exactly have the easiest time making friends as a kid." Shulk stated.

"Really? I find that difficult to believe. You seem like a charming fellow to me, Shulk." Lucina said.

"Well, I'm glad someone likes me. I think you're really nice too, Lucina."

"I appreciate it. Anyway, I will let you get back to your reading. What is it you're reading, anyway?" Lucina asked.

"Well, I wanted to learn a little bit more about the homes of some of the others here. This book here is about a group of monsters called Pokémon. I decided to look at it after seeing that one creature called… What was it? Jigglypuff, I think?" Shulk said.

"Fascinating. You're quite the intellectual. I could tell you were smart the moment I met you. I believe it's quite an admirable trait." Lucina replied.

"Heh. Well, I try." Shulk said.

He then returned to his book as Lucina went about her own business. She eventually found a book of her own to read and sat down with it.

*A week later*

Lucina was out and about exploring the gardens surrounding the mansion. She had never seen flowers take on so many different colors back in her home.

"I've never seen such a bright purple." She mused as she plucked the flower and sniffed it.

As she turned around to keep looking at the gardens, she spied Shulk walking across the field. He looked kind of tired, even though it was only midafternoon.

"Good day, Shulk." She greeted.

"Oh, hey Lucina." Shulk replied.

"Are you alright? You seem somewhat tired. Did you just finish a difficult match?" Lucina asked.

"Yeah. Pac-Man got me pretty good. Man, I never thought that one little yellow ball could fight so well. Oh well, I'll get him next time."

"I see. Still, you do seem rather tired after the whole thing. And, are you… limping? Are you hurt?!" Lucina asked.

"I told you, I'm fine, don't worry. What about you? You dong good?" Shulk asked.

"I am fine, thanks." Lucina replied.

"Good. I always like to know how my friends are doing." Shulk said.

"Even in times when you are not feeling at your best?" She asked.

"Yeah, even then. But again, I'm alright. I just need to relax for a bit." Shulk reassured.

"If you insist. Nevertheless, I appreciate the sentiment, Shulk. I like how you take consideration for the feelings of others, unlike…" Lucina started.

She struggled to get her next word out, and Shulk was visibly worried about her. He was about to ask her what was wrong, but she simply turned around and walked away from him without another word. Shulk was about to follow, but ultimately decided not to. He stood there, thinking about what Lucina had said, and why she would be acting the way she did. He wondered if there was any way to get the answers he was looking for out of her, then find a way to help her. He thought for a while but nothing came to him. With nothing else to do, Shulk headed back toward the mansion.

Lucina was heading back to her room after dinner, ready to go to bed. After leaving the dining hall, she made her way to her room, ready for a nice sleep. However, once she turned onto her hallway, she saw Shulk standing in front of the door right across from hers. He was just unlocking his door for the night.

"Good evening, Shulk." Lucina greeted.

"Hey Lucina. Getting ready for bed?" Shulk asked.

"Indeed. It's been quite a long day. Wouldn't you agree?" She said.

"Yeah. I'm ready to hit the hay." Shulk replied.

Shulk then noticed Lucina's sword at her side and noticed one peculiar detail about it. He then decided to ask her a question about it.

"But before I go to bed, I want to ask you a quick question, if I may." Shulk stated.

"Very well." Lucina replies.

"I really like the design of your sword. But I'm wondering, does the hole in the center do anything?" Shulk asked.

"'Do anything'? I don't follow, Shulk." She replied.

"What I mean is, well… see the center of the Monado?"

Shulk then held up his Monado and pointed at the glass circle for emphasis. Lucina nodded so Shulk continued speaking.

"This is where the Arts that grant the Monado extra power come from. It shows me which Art is currently active."

As he spoke, Shulk cycled through a few of his Arts for emphasis before deactivating the sword and strapping it to his back once again. Lucina was amazed by all the different symbols that appeared in the sword.

"I was just wondering if the hole in your sword did something similar." Shulk said.

"Oh, no. Falchion holds no such power. Not like the Monado, anyway. The hole is merely there for decorative purposes." Lucina replied.

"Ah, I see. Still, I think it's kinda funny how we both fight with indestructible swords with holes in the center." Shulk pointed out.

"Yes, I suppose it is quite the coincidence." She replied.

"I just realized, that's just another thing we have in common." Shulk said.

"Another?"

"Yeah. I was thinking about your story earlier today, and I realized you and I have a lot of similarities. We both have ties to the future, what with me being able to change it, and you coming from the future. We both were fixated on changing our destinies as determined by evil deities, and we both wield our respective world's most legendary weapons." Shulk explained.

"I suppose you're right, Shulk. We are quite similar." Lucina admitted.

"And, it seems we both ended long term relationships right before we came here."

Lucina gave a small gasp of surprise at this. She never directly mentioned to Shulk that she was in a relationship with anyone prior to entering Smash Bros. So how did he know?

"Robin told me. He said that this… what was his name? Indigo, or something? Whatever. Robin said this guy said some real nasty things to you." Shulk explained.

"Yes. He did." Lucina said, trying to fight back her own sadness.

"I'm sorry, Lucina. I didn't mean to bring back painful memories." Shulk said.

"N-no. It's not your fault." Lucina said.

As Lucina looked at the ground in sadness, Shulk gently put a hand on her shoulder. She looked up and saw Shulk looking at her with a comforting smile on his face.

"Y'know, if you ever need anyone to talk to, I'm more than happy to lend an ear." Shulk said.

Lucina thought about his offer for a moment before asking:

"And you'll not think me too forward or even… annoying for airing my problems with you?"

"No. Of course not. I promise." Shulk said.

Lucina again thought about Shulk's offer for a short while before giving him a response.

"I appreciate your offer, Shulk. And perhaps one day, I shall take you up on it. But not this day. I'm not quite comfortable sharing my personal problems with you. For now, it's enough that I told you my tale of defeating Grima."

"Oh. Alright, that makes sense." Shulk said.

"I only wish there was something else we could do instead. I remember during the war, whenever my father saw me upset, he would ask me to a practice sparring match. Those would always make me feel better." Lucina stated.

"… Well why not?" Shulk asked.

"Pardon?" Lucina replied.

"I might not be your dad, but you and I can still have a little fight sometime. So what do you say, let's you and me have a go sometime, yeah?" Shulk offered.

Lucina thought about this for a bit. She already knew that Shulk was a capable fighter, and his weapon still intrigued her a lot. She now found herself interested in testing his skills herself. Thus far she had yet to see what he was capable of first hand. She decided that now was the best time to find out.

"Very well, Shulk. I accept your offer. I would very much like to spar with you." Lucina stated.

"Alright. You free tomorrow at 3?" Shulk asked.

"I am. I will see you then, Shulk."

"See ya then. Well, I best be goin' to sleep now. Night, Lucina." Shulk said.

"Good night, Shulk." She replied.

With that, they both retreated into their rooms for the evening, each waiting for their upcoming match with each other.

*the next day, 2:55 PM*

Lucina stood patiently outside the Transporter Room, waiting for Shulk to arrive. They had agreed on having a 2 stock match and decided to be surprised on which stage to fight on. As the minutes passed by, Lucina couldn't help but wonder what was keeping Shulk. She wondered why he was not there yet. Was he perhaps running late? Or maybe she had just shown up early? Others had told her she had a tendency to do just that. However, her worries were put to rest when she saw Shulk round the corner and approach her.

"Good day, Shulk. Are you ready for our match?" She asked him.

"I am. Let's get going, shall we?" Shulk said.

With that, the pair entered the Transporter Room and stood on two individual platforms that would take them to a random stage. The platforms began to glow as they were both teleported to their stage.

The stage they arrived at was called 'Boxing Ring'. Shulk and Lucina looked around and found themselves in a small, fenced, arena surrounded by a large crowd that had gathered to watch the fight. The announcer then counted down to the fight.

3

2

1

GO!

Lucina made the first move, walking up to Shulk and swinging her blade in rapid succession at him. The strikes quickly knocked Shulk out of the ring, but he landed on his feet and approached Lucina again. As he tried jumping back into the ring, Lucina stuck him again, but he still landed inside the ring. But Lucina responded by swinging at his feet and again knocking him out of the ring.

Lucina then jumped out of the ring herself and hit Shulk again, knocking him back. Shulk responded by thrusting his Monado forward and hitting her with both the red and blue blades of his weapon. Lucina landed and ran toward him again, but Shulk swung the Monado at the ground, keeping the blue haired warrior at bay.

However, Lucina managed to catch Shulk off guard with another fast-paced flurry of strikes, knocking him backwards. Shulk responded by jumping over her head and swinging behind him, hitting Lucina and pushing her back. Shulk then activated his Speed Art, just as Lucina attempted to strike him again. Fortunately, Shulk managed to dodge with his increased speed.

Shulk used his speed to dance around Lucina for a few seconds before he saw an opening. After a failed strike from her, he thrust the Monado toward her, knocking her backward into the invisible barrier, costing her a stock. She reappeared above the ring and ran toward Shulk again.

"Very impressive, Shulk. However, it will take more than that if you wish to claim victory." Lucina shouted.

"I plan to." Shulk responded.

She jumped outside the ring just as Shulk jumped over he and attempted to hit her with a downward strike. However, Lucina was quicker and knocked Shulk into the air with an upward strike.

Shulk's Speed Art vanished at this point as he landed back in the ring. He again swung the Monado at her, but Lucina managed to counter his blade with her own, and she then struck him in the chest, forcing him back again. Lucina then jumped out the ring and prepared another attack.

The two ran at each other again, and Lucina jumped back in the ring just as Shulk jumped out. However, neither one landed a blow on the other until Lucina jumped out of the ring again and landed right in front of Shulk. He immediately grabbed her arm and smacked her in the head with the Monado's handle. She managed to escape his grasp and tried swiping at him again, but he managed to sidestep. Shulk again plunged the Monado forward, hitting Lucina dead on and forcing her backwards. He then activated the Monado's Busted Art and swung at Lucina again. However, Lucina swung at the same time, and ultimately, her attack hit first. She knocked Shulk back into the ring, and she then jumped back in herself. Shulk tried to hit her with the Monado again, but she dodged and knocked him upward.

The two danced around each other for a few seconds until Shulk activated his Shield Art, which allowed Shulk to reduce the amount of damage he takes from each blow. The Art was accompanied by a yellow kanji in the Monado and a yellow glow around Shulk's body.

With his added protection, Shulk again swung at Lucina again, but she countered and knocked him back again. The two again danced around each other for some time until they both landed near the edge of the stage. Shulk's Shield Art then deactivated, and Lucina responded by swinging her sword downward at Shulk. The boy was immediately knocked back until hitting the invisible barrier. He was KO'd and reappeared on the stage shortly afterwards.

"Not bad. But let's see if you can get that lucky again." Shulk said to Lucina.

He jumped toward her, but right when he was over her, she thrust Falchion upward, knocking him into the air. When he landed, Lucina tried striking him again, but right before she hit him, she saw his eyes glow blue. She knew what that meant. Shulk sidestepped her attack and swung at her back, knocking her to the ground. She got up and again tried to swipe her sword at Shulk, but he dodged and pointed the Monado forward, striking Lucina with his shining blue blade. Lucina then tried to hit Shulk with a downward strike, but Shulk responded with an upward thrust, knocking her into the air.

The two of them jumped back into the ring where Lucina immediately grabbed Shulk by the collar, kneed him in the stomach, threw him into the air, and jumped up after him to deliver a follow-up strike. Shulk then activated his Smash Art, and attempted to knock Lucina upward and out of the stage, but she dodged the attack and managed to knock him out of the ring. She jumped after him and swung her sword at him, but Shulk's eyes then glowed again and he managed to dodge her attack and swung back at her, knocking her more than halfway across the stage. The Smash Art disappeared as the two fighters charged at each other again.

Lucina swung her sword upward and knocked Shulk onto a light fixture above the ring. She then jumped on the fence around the ring, which allowed her to jump like she was on a trampoline, and made it on top of the light fixture as well. She knocked Shulk off of the lights and jumped after him, getting a few more well-placed hits in before knocking him back into the ring.

Shulk then activated his Jump Art, which allowed him to jump around twice as high as normal. This Art came with a green kanji and a green glow around Shulk's legs. He jumped around, trying to get a decent hit on Lucina, but ultimately was not able to before she grabbed him, kicked him in the stomach with her knee, and threw him behind her. He then landed outside the ring and attempted to strike her again, but failed. She then landed a hard blow on Shulk, knocking him into the invisible barrier, KO'ing him, and ending the match.

"GAME!" The announcer shouted. He then declared:

"The winner is: Lucina!"

"Wow, I guess your luck did hold out after all. Great match, Lucina." Shulk said as he and Lucina were teleported back to the Transporter Room.

"Thank you, Shulk. I must say, I've never fought anyone with a fighting style like yours. I was very impressed with your ability to keep me on my toes. I would very much like to do this again sometime." Lucina said.

"Sure, why not? I'm up for it whenever you are. So, what are you gonna do now?" Shulk asked.

"I believe I will go back to my room and relax for a little while. I might also look for my favorite mask. I cannot remember where I last put it." She replied.

"Mask? I don't think I've ever seen you wear a mask before, Lucina." Shulk said.

"I mostly used it to disguise my identity when I traveled back in time. However it got destroyed at one point and I picked up the pieces just to keep for sentimental reasons. But now, I seem to have misplaced it."

"Well, if you want, I can help you look. I got nothing better to do right now."

"Would you? Oh thank you, Shulk." Lucina said gratefully.

The two of them then made their way to Lucina's room. She then pulled out her room key and the two entered the room. There were two beds in the room, both of which were neatly made. Half of the room was covered in keepsakes Lucina had brought from home, such as a banner with Ylisse's official seal on it.

"Nice place you got here. I like the decorations you put up. Tell me, who is your roommate?" Shulk asked.

"Her name is Rosalina. She always travels about with a floating star like creature she calls a Luma."

"Cool. Anyway, what does your mask look like?"

"It is blue and resembles a butterfly. It also has three small eye slits on each side. I hope I can find it soon. It is one of my most treasured…"

"Is this it?" Shulk asked.

Lucina looked at Shulk and saw that he was indeed holding her prized mask in his hand. She was shocked that he had found it so quickly.

"Yes, that is it. Where was it?" She asked.

"Under your bed. It's usually the first place I look whenever I've lost something." Shulk replied.

"I thought I had finally gotten the underside of my bed organized." Lucina said to herself with a sigh.

"Well, I'm glad I was able to help." Shulk said, handing her the mask.

"Yes, thank you very much, Shulk." Lucina stated.

"Anyway, I best be going. I heard Little Mac wanted to ask me something earlier today, so I'm going to look for him. See ya later." Shulk said.

"Farewell, Shulk. Do come back sometime. I actually quite enjoy talking with you. You are always welcome to come in." Lucina responded.

"Alright, I will. Thanks, Lucina. Bye." Shulk said before leaving.

Shulk and Lucina attained support level A.

I'm so sorry this took so long to come out, and that it wasn't my best work. I'll be honest, the main reason this took forever was because I wasn't entirely sure what I wanted to do with this chapter by the time I started writing it. When that happens, I tend to lose motivation and not write to the best of my abilities. That's why this isn't exactly my best work. My thought process was 'I want Shulk and Lucina to learn a bit about each other's personalities.' That's why the first half of this chapter was just a collection of mini-stories. I was trying to show off the two lead's main personality traits, like Lucina's lack of a sense of humor, or the fact that Shulk's always willing to help others, even if he's the one who needs it. Also the fact that he's a bookworm. But I probably could have gone about that better. Also, real life events such as classes and work got in my way a lot. But again, I chock it up to not knowing what I wanted to do, so sorry.

Fortunately though, I won't be having that problem for a little while. I have a very clear idea of what I want to do for the next two chapters. Hopefully that means I'll have them out sooner rather than later. After that, well who knows? I hate to admit this, I really do, but while I have several ideas for what I want to do with the upcoming chapters, I don't quite have enough to get the story done the way I want it to be done. With that said, and I really, really, hope I never have to say this again for this story or any other ones I'm going to write in the future, some ideas for future chapters would be appreciated.

Anyway, if you liked the chapter, let me know by giving me a review, follow, or favorite. If you didn't, again, I'm sorry, but I promise you the next chapter will be a lot better. But please, don't leave any hurtful or negative reviews. Please. I don't need that kind of crap.

Next chapter, we're going to say hello to an old friend of one of our two main characters. Stay tuned to find out who. Chapter dismissed! Bring in the dancing lobsters.