Disclaimer: I do not own SSBM or anything I could be sued for.

Yuriko smiled to herself as she waited in the hall. Then, she saw whom she wanted to see.

Marth.

"Hello Marth," she greeted pleasantly. "How are you doing?" Marth glared at Yuriko. "What do you want Yuriko?" he said. "I have things to do." Yuriko smiled as she folded her arms across her. "Including telling Johin the real reason you tried to her friend? She asked. Marth glared at her as he began to sweep by her. "Leave Johin alone Yuriko." Marth said, trying to keep his words to her short. Yuriko grinned again. "Oh, I'm afraid I can't do that." She said. "You see, Johin has a secret she's hiding from you. No, not the Medeus one, you already know that. I mean…" Yuriko glared at Marth straight in the eyes. "Something that could affect your relationship forever." Marth glared at Yuriko and kept walking. "Fine!" Yuriko laughed behind her. "But I know your secret too Marth, and I intend to tell it!" At this, Marth spin around in anger. "Just what is it with you and Johin anyway?" he growled. "Why can't you leave her alone?" Yuriko smiled. "Because…" she said. "Her brother may be dead…but we still have a score to settle." Marth glared and swiftly brought his angry eyes to Yuriko's. "Leave Johin alone." He warned. But Yuriko smiled as she looked past him. "Too late…" Marth turned to see Johin glaring at the both of them.

"Yuriko…!" Johin glared through her dragon helmet. Yuriko smiled happily at Marth and Johin. "Oh Johin!" Yuriko greeted happily with her face all aglow. "We were just talking about you!" Marth quickly realized what Yuriko was about to say. "Johin…" Marth gasped weakly. "I'm sorry…please forgive me…I…" but turning away, Marth closed his eyes and waited for the words to come. Yuriko smiled at the chaos she had caused. "Oh Johin…" Yuriko said. "Did you know that Zelda's spiritual stone was stolen and she suspected you?" Johin shook her head slowly, keeping both her suspicious eyes on Yuriko. Yuriko continued. "Did you also know that Marth here would've been given three billion rupees to see if you did it?"

Johin's eyes grew wide. Inside her mind, Redon gasped.

//Oh, Johin…I'm sorry…//

Marth gritted his teeth as he felt his fist tremble with anger. "Marth…" Yuriko said. "Why don't you come clean with Johin now?" Marth stared up at Johin, her eyes covered with her helmet. "Johin…" Marth said reaching for her, grabbing her hand, his eyes full of regret. "Please…don't be angry…" But Johin angrily stared down at the place where Marth had touched her and pulled away and then with a fluid stroke, punched Marth across the face, her full rage behind it. "Damn you!" Johin screamed as she glared angrily at Marth, who stumbled back a bit. "I hate you! I hate you and all humans! Damn you all and all your human emotions to the seventh circle of hell! Rot for all I care! I hate you!" "Johin, wait!" Marth called as he put a hand on his cheek where Johin had hit him. But she turned the corner, and Marth couldn't follow, his feet felt like lead, and sank to his knees. "Wait…" Happily, Yuriko laughed as she watched Marth being tortured. "Too bad Marth." She said. "Maybe the next girl you meet won't be a cold hearted princess." Laughing and walking away, Marth closed his eyes in pain. "Johin…a princess?"

***

Johin angrily slammed into her room, then forcing Redon out of her, she fell onto her bed and angrily slammed her fist into her pillow. Redon, who had ended on the floor because he was so roughly forced out looked at his sister stunned. "Johin…" he said as he put a hand on her shoulder. "Are you all right?" Johin glared at her brother. "I hate him…" she growled. "I hate all humans! I'm a dragon and that's why I should hate him!" Redon sighed. "Johin…I made a deal with Marth too." Johin looked up at her brother in surprise. "YOU WHAT?!" she practically screamed, her eyes turning a blazing blood red. Redon sighed. "I made him promise that he would try to become friends with you. And for nothing in return." Johin glared. "So?" Redon sighed again.

So many sighs.

"So," Redon said casually. "This means he really does like you. Or he wouldn't have taken it." Johin glared her brother down. "That may be so." She hissed. "But I still dislike him." Redon smiled. "At least it's not hating." He said. As a thought came across Johin, she grinned. "Brother…what would father say? If I told him I almost fell for a human?" Redon smiled. "He would say, 'Johin, my daughter, you should love who you love. And not worry about anything else.' That's what." Slowly, Johin relaxed and her eyes turned back to their normal color. "He is a great king isn't he?" She finally said. Redon smiled back at her. "The king of dragon's should be." He said proudly.

***

Marth was getting quite tired of pacing around his room at nights thinking. "This is crazy…" he thought. "If I pace around this room anymore, then I'll make a ring on the ground…" Stopping for a minute, Marth stared at his desk. There, the picture of Zelda smiled back at him. Looking at that picture made Marth think. Then, walking over to his desk, Marth picked up the picture and opened a drawer in his desk. Gently placing the picture inside, Marth gave another sigh and closed the drawer. "Johin…forgive me…"

Then, a knock at the door.

Marth frowned as a small envelope was pushed under the door. Silently, Marth tip toed over to the door and listened for any sort of sound. Hearing no one, Marth slowly opened the door and looked down the halls.

No one was there.

Turning back into his room, Marth stared down at the envelope. "What in the world?" he asked. As he picked up the envelope, he looked it over curiously. "Huh…no address. No markings either." Opening the envelope, Marth pulled out a letter in typed print:

To Marth,

Johin is challenging you. Meet at the Final Destination at 9:00 sharp tonight.

And that was the whole letter.

Marth sighed as he put the letter on his desk. "All right," he said as he then fell onto his bed. "Nine…I guess I'll let her beat on me. I deserve it."

***

In her own room, Johin sat reading a book.

Then a knock on the door.

Silently, a white envelope was pushed through the bottom of the door. Blinking in confusion, Johin silently got up and walked over to the envelope.

//What is it Johin? //

/A letter…from Yuriko the... /

//Open it! Open it and don't finish! //

Growling at her brother to shut up, Johin swiftly opened the letter.

To Johin:

Please meet me at the Final Destination for a match tonight at 8:30. Hope to see you there.

Looking over at the clock, Johin read the time. "Eight." She said. "All right…let's go…"

***

At the stage at eight twenty is when Johin showed up. "Yuriko!" she called into the dark stage. "Yuriko, are you here?" Looking around and seeing only darkness, Johin reached behind her and grabbed her wand.

/Redon, I don't like this…/

//It's okay Johin…I'm here. //

Looking around the flat area, nothing moved. Nothing made a sound.

"Hello Johin…"

Spinning around quickly, Join saw Yuriko there in her silver dress smiling evilly. "Yuriko!" Johin hissed obvious hate in her voice. Smiling, Yuriko casually walked up to Johin. "Well, well, Johin. So good of you to come here. I see you got my letter." Yuriko laughed as she turned away from an angry Johin. "All right," Johin growled. "What do you want Yuriko? I'm not going to waste too much of my time with you." Yuriko turned back to Johin. "Angry are you?" she asked. "Very well. The reason I brought you here is to tell you something…" Smiling at Johin, Yuriko began to walk up to her. "As you know, Zelda is missing her spiritual stone. And you're the most likely suspect to have taken it." Johin glared as Yuriko began to walk around her in circles. Not moving, Johin stared straight ahead. "What do you want Yuriko?" Johin asked unwavering. Yuriko smiled at Johin as she stopped at the right side of her. "What I want…" she smiled. "I haven't had that in a long time. But I have gotten a bit of what I want." Johin glared. "Oh yeah, what's that?" she spat. Yuriko smiled. "Marth is miserable, and I get to get my revenge on not just all the dragons, but the princess of dragons as well." Johin glared. "I won't let you hurt my people…you won't win." she glared. Yuriko waved a finger in front of Johin. "Such hard words," she said. "First…let me tell you a little story…" Johin glared at the air ahead of her. "I never needed a bedtime story Yuriko." She said gripping her wand tightly.

Yuriko laughed a bit as she crossed her arms behind her. "Well, this story is about a girl. A young girl, about ten. She lived happily with her family of two brothers and a beautiful silver haired mother and a hard working father. One day though, a figure blanketed the sky. The figure was a dragon as dark as night itself. And his heart was just as black. Breathing a fire so hot it scorched the strongest alloy the people had, he burnt the girl's life to the ground. Everything. The village that the girl lived in, the fields, so badly burnt nothing grew for the next five years, the villagers themselves, and the girl's family. All of her family…ash." Yuriko smiled at Johin who didn't return the favor. "The dragon had evil eyes. Oh, there were no words that could explain the terrible deeds the dragon had done. But…the girl met a magician. And he taught her magic…strong enough to take down a beast, but not enough for a dragon. But the girl was foolish. She wanted to take the dragon out herself anyway. But…"

Looking Johin straight in the eye, Yuriko smirked. "A blue prince led a fierce battle against the dragon…" Yuriko's eyes ran through Johin's like lightning. "A blue prince…" Johin could feel herself trembling. What dragon? What evil dragon? Could it be…?

Medeus?

Brother?

Gritting her teeth, Johin ran over her thoughts in her head. "No! Medeus did die by a prince's hand…but it couldn't be…there are a million blue princes in the world…it couldn't be…but I know it's true…" Seeing her remarks were hitting very hard, Yuriko stared at Johin. Gritting her teeth and eyes open in surprise, Johin looked very upset. Raising an eyebrow at her, Yuriko continued her story. "The blue prince…with the sword Falchion, he defeated the dragon and saved the rest who were spared. But the girl…she wanted revenge. She wanted to defeat the dragon. But the blue prince beat her to it. So…" pulling out the Spiritual stone of fire, she formed a fire energy in her hand, Yuriko smiled at the surprised look Johin had on her face. "The girl found out the dragon had family…the girl hated the people who had cross bred with the dragons…" Then, grabbing Johin's collar, Yuriko smiled as she brought the fireball close to Johin's heart and the percentage meters appeared. (You know the percentage to calculate damage at the bottom of the screen). "And hated even more the results!" then, with an evil glare, Yuriko thrust her hand forward.

"AAAAAHHHHGGGHHH!"

Marth's head snapped up as he stared around him, his hand over his cheek still. "A scream!" he thought urgently. Then, Marth stared at his clock. It was eight thirty.

"Johin…!"

Dashing out of his room, Marth sped down the hall, brushing past Link and Roy. "Hey!" Roy said as he watched his friend run past him. "Marth!" Running to catch up to him, Roy sped off, Link not too far behind. Finally, Roy was just a bit behind Marth. "Marth!" Roy yelled as he tried to catch up. "Marth, what's the rush?" Ignoring Roy, Marth quickly turned into another hall. Behind him, Link could be heard shouting, "Hey! Guys, wait!" Finally making it to Johin's door, Marth stopped, giving Roy and Link to catch up and catch their breath. "Marth…" Roy panted as Link finally caught up. "W…Where's the fire?" But Marth had already gone in. "Marth!" Roy protested and was about to follow, but then Link caught his arm. "Roy…Roy wait…look at whose room that is." Roy looked at Link blankly. "What?" he asked. Link pointed to a sign on the door. As Roy read it, he gave a small yelp. "J-Johin?!" he exclaimed. "What?" Looking inside the room, Roy stared at his friend in the room, holding a piece of paper. "Marth…?" Roy asked as he peered in. "Mind telling us what's going on?" Inside the room, Marth finished reading the note. Clenching his fists in anger, Marth glared ahead. "Yuriko…!" he hissed. Roy looked at Link who shared an equal amount of confusion in his face. "Yuriko?" Roy asked. "What's this got to do with her?" Marth turned to Roy angrily, his eyes hurt and scared. "Yuriko's got Johin!" he cried as he began to dash out of the room.

But Roy caught his arm as Marth tried to speed past him. "No way man!" Roy said as he brought a struggling Marth over to a chair and sat him down. "Hey Link!" Roy said as he tried to pin Marth down. "Help me!" Jumping in, Link grabbed Marth's arms and pulled them so they were behind and over his head. "No!" Marth struggled as Link struggled to hold him. "No, Link! I have to help Johin!" But Link just held on as Roy grabbed Marth feet to prevent kicking. "Marth!" Link shouted as he pulled on Marth's arms making it hurt. "Just, calm down! You have to tell us what's going on and then we'll let you go!" At this Marth struggled even more. "No, there's no time!" he shouted, trying to ignore the increasing pain in his arms. "MARTH!" Roy screamed as he let go of his legs and punched him across the face, making Link and Marth both stand still in shock. "Tell me! You've been scaring me a lot by acting weird for a long time! Tell me what in the hell is going on!" Marth, stunned looked up at his friends and then bowed his head in embarrassment and sadness.

"I…" he said sadly. "I…you know about my deal with Zelda and Yuriko right Roy?" he asked finally. Roy nodded his head slowly. "Yeah." He said. " I know." Link blinked at his friends. "Deal?" he asked clueless. "What deal?" Roy looked down at Marth's head. Then, seeing his friend was already suffering more than needed, Roy finished the sentence for him. "Zelda lost the spiritual stone of Fire," Roy said. "Marth promised to get it back and get three billion rupees in return." Link dropped Marth like a sack of potatoes as he opened his mouth in surprise. "Three bill…? Three BILLION?!" Link nearly exploded. "Why didn't she tell me? Good Triforce!" Roy sighed as Link went on with his rambling. Kneeling down to Marth, Roy put a hand on his shoulder. "Johin…" Marth said as tears formed in his eyes. "I'm sorry…" Putting both palms on the ground to support himself, Marth shook. "Johin…!" Link stopped raving and Roy looked down on Marth with pity.

"You love her…Johin I mean."

Marth opened his eyes and stared down at the ground, a small gasp following. Link grinned down at Marth. "You fell over Johin, the dragon magician…" he grinned running a hand through his hair. "Marth, you really are a dork…" Roy frowned at Link. "What?" Link cried as he shrugged his shoulders. "What?" Roy sighed and just rolled his eyes at Link's stupidity. "You're the dork Link." Roy said. Marth sighed "And the story doesn't end there…" he said sadly.

***

So he told them everything. Redon, the deal, the promises, the treachery, the secrets, and that Johin was actually a princess. Princess Johin of the dragons. "Wow…" Link said as Marth finished. "Wow…" was all he could say. Marth nodded. "But now she hates me and I…I'm worse than dirt." Turning to Marth, Roy grinned. "Marth," he said. "Don't worry about that. What's past is past and now we have to look ahead. Yuriko's has your princess hostage and you need to save her. So, o brave noble price," he teased. "Are you going to save your princess?" Marth slowly turned his head to look at Roy's. Then, he felt something wet fall down his face and land on his hand. Tears.

Tears?

Johin…

Pulling his hand close, Marth smiled. "Let's go."

***

Back in the stage, Johin fell to the floor in pain, her percentage at 10%.

//Johin! Johin, get up! Get up or she'll kill you! She's got the Spiritual stone! //

/I know Redon…but…/

Johin looked up at Yuriko, a hand over her chest where a small hole leaked blood. "Yuriko!" Johin growled as she struggled to get up. "You don't have fire magic and you can hurt others like this!" Yuriko laughed. "Oh, poor fool!" she giggled. "I have the stone and with it's magic, I can kill you…really kill you…as slow and painful as I want." Johin glared up at Yuriko as she shakily stood. "I won't let you get away with this…" she glared. "I won't let you wipe out the dragons!" Yuriko laughed as she held up the spiritual stone. "That is doubtful. For you see…I have the Triforce of power in my hands also and with it, I think I'll make your brother suffer by making him watch you die slowly…" Johin glared as she clenched her wand. "Leave Redon out of this!" she cried, but it was too late. "Now, face the power of the Triforce!" Yuriko screamed as a bright red light shot out and hit Johin in the heart.

"AAAARRRGHHH!"

Yuriko laughed as slowly, Johin fell apart from her brother. When the light faded a black dragon and Johin lay on the ground separate from each other. "J…Johin…" Redon gasped as he tried to get up. Looking at Yuriko, Redon glared. "Leave…" he growled. "Leave my sister ALONE!" Getting up, Redon charged Yuriko, fire beginning to appear from his mouth. "Leave her alone!" Meanwhile, Johin painfully looked up; her clothes the same, but without the cape, helmet, and shoulder pads. "No! Redon!" she screamed. Yuriko grinned as she waved her hand. Instantly, a pink crystal prison enclosed Redon as he roared and blew fire at the cage angrily. But the prison held. "Redon!" Johin cried finding the strength to get up and pound on the cage. "REDON!" But Yuriko grinned and lifted her hand. Swiftly, the cage flew in the air, well over reach. Johin glared at her enemy, her wand clenched tightly in her hands. Grinning like a bobcat, Yuriko looked at Johin. "Now…" she said as she pointed a finger at Johin, fire beginning to spark from it.

"It's your turn…"