14shiffna: I don't think Meta Knight would be rich enough to have an entire fleet of Halberds. He's throwing all his eggs into one basket, so might as well make it one hell of a basket to break.
"-so she takes the bottle ah' bleach, and I say 'Lady, that stuff's for toilets and glass. You don't wanna put it on your shell.' She doesn't listen, so she sprays it on her back and what'dya know it breaks open. So I say 'Guess it wasn't all it was cracked up to be, eh?' "
"Of course, I get an egg in the face for that, and after you spend half th' day washing yolk outta your hair, you kinda lose your taste for 'em."
Yoshi hummed in agreement from his place at the table. Donkey Kong only shrugged.
From the other side of the small kitchen sectioned off from the empty hall, Mario peeked at their reactions through the reflective surface of the refrigerator beside him. With a smile, he brought the plates back around, and laid them down on the table they all gathered around. The bundle of bananas slid in front of Donkey Kong, and he placed the plate of apples before Yoshi.
"Enough about that, though," he said, taking a pear in his hands. "I'm starving! Let's dig in!"
For a few moments, the only noise in the air between them was the soft sound of chewing. Simple people they might be, they still had enough decency to keep conversation and eating as two separate things. Yoshi swallowed, but he grabbed another apple with his tongue as soon as he was done.
As Donkey Kong finished chewing, he motioned between the three of them. Having known the ape for a long time, Mario understood what he was trying to say.
"Yeah, it has been a while since we've been together like this," he said, taking a chunk out of another pear.
A smile spread across Donkey Kong's face. He tossed a banana between his hands, before he nodded.
"Those were some fun times, weren't they?"
Another nod. Donkey Kong squeezed another banana out of its skin, popping it into his mouth.
Yoshi stopped them by clearing his throat. When their eyes set on him, he waved his nose at the three of them. A brief snarl parted his lips, gone as suddenly as it had set in, before he tilted his head in a questioning motion.
Mario gave Yoshi a half-assed look and shrugged. "Why are the bad guys working together? I dunno. It ain't for fun, that's for sure."
Yoshi glanced at the ceiling for a moment, before he nodded in understanding.
"Although their band is made up of crooks and cash-hungry idiots, like that Wario guy and his brother, so if you ask me, I think it's probably just another scheme to make a quick buck. Maybe they'll hold an entire planet ransom or something dumb like that."
Yoshi and Donkey Kong snickered, and Mario found the edges of his lips turned upward at the thought. Holding a planet ransom. That sounded like something a certain "friend" of his would do if he woke up on the wrong side of his bed.
They were interrupted by a loud clang. Immediately they all turned around to see where the noise had come from. A coil of cables lay tangled on the ground, thrown out of the Jigglypuff's grasp from where she was standing a few feet away. She looked like she was itching to take it back, but at the same time she eyed the three sitting at the table warily, like she was afraid of making them angry if she took another step toward them.
Donkey Kong and Yoshi exchanged worried frowns. The glanced at Mario, who at least had the sense to show a little worry
"Alright you two," he sighed. "Help her up."
With a grunt, Donkey Kong lifted himself out of his chair. He paused to pick up the cables, before he walked back to her.
Jigglypuff only seemed to grow smaller as he approached. That confused him, and he flashed her what he thought was a reassuring grin. She wilted, and his smile quickly dampened. She raised her arms to the coils wound around his arm, her eyes silently asking for it back. He shook his head. This surprised her, and not in a pleasant way if the way her face fell was any indication.
Donkey Kong jerked his head down the hall and hefted the cords in slung over his arm. He wanted to help, he practically said. This time, it was Jigglypuff's turn to shake her head, and she reached for the cable. The ape raised them higher, refusing to back down, but Jigglypuff whimpered in distress.
Mario noticed this, and yelled, "Oi! Just give her the cable! She don't need you to hold her hand, you big ape!"
Donkey Kong looked at Mario. Then he turned back to Jigglypuff. At last, he sighed, and shrugged the cables into his hand, before giving it back to her. The moment she had a firm grip on them, she rushed out, leaving Donkey Kong staring at her disappearing trail in confusion.
"Don't take it personally, DK," Mario said as Donkey Kong got back to his chair. "She's probably one of those people who can't go out in public without an armed guard."
Donkey Kong grunted again, letting him knew he heard, but the frown that appeared on his face remained plastered on. That soured the mood, and the room descended into silence. Everyone just gave each other awkward looks, but no one dared try to speak up.
Luckily, none of them had to.
"There you are!" With a shout, Fox stormed into the kitchen.
Mario groaned into his gloved hands. "Oh boy," he said, "it's this clown again."
He turned around as Fox stomped closer, meeting him face to face. They glared daggers into each other, anger clear on their face. Donkey Kong and Yoshi saw the argument coming a mile away, and they simultaneously shuffled their chairs to the other side of the table.
When they finally burst into angry words and insults, they watched all while they stuffed their faces full with fruit.
These chapters current batch of chapters are shorter than the usual chapters because I don't think I could find a way to stretch out these singular character interactions for any longer. Also, these last two have at least half the characters in them be mute, which is both a delight and a pain to write. This might be a bit slow for some of you, but I promise this dry spell won't last very long.