Disclaimer: I do not own Super Smash Bros. Melee. The characters and such are property of Nintendo. (*Although, I do wish I owned Link! He's my fav!*) All of these writings are pure fiction and came from my imagination! (*Um.. what little imagination I have, that is!*) I am also sorry if any part of my story resembles anything else that has already been done or any other idea.

On another note, I do not own Kairi, Sora, Kingdom Hearts, Yugi or Yu-Gi-Oh! since I used them in the story. ^_^

See Chapter One for additional author's notes and information.

On Another Note: This story centers around a few main characters. They are Link, Zelda, Marth, Roy, Young Link, and Samus. I try to include as many of the others as I can, but coming up with storylines for them all is quite challenging. So I add as I go along, or when I think of the perfect storyline for a particular character.

Fiction By Sherri


SSBM: What The Future May Hold

Chapter Eighteen -- Deadbeat

"Ouch... maybe I did have too many drinks."

Mario rolled over and fell out of bed, slamming his already throbbing head into the hardwood floor. He wasn't the type to get drunk, but maybe his carefree celebrating had gotten the best of him.

Luigi, who was already awake, only laughed. "Well, hurry up and get yourself together, bro. We're already late as it is for the fights scheduled today."

"On a Saturday?!"

Luigi rolled his eyes at his confused brother. "Duh, Mario. We always fight on Saturday! Listen, if you're that bad off, I'll just go without you."

"I'm fine," Mario insisted. "Just having trouble remembering things. This headache is terrible." Mario got up and quickly got dressed and followed Luigi outside to the battle arenas where Mewtwo and Yoshi were having a battle.

"Who's winning?" Luigi asked, sitting down beside Falco, not paying attention to the large scoreboard.

"Yoshi. Suprisingly. He's been sick the past few days. Maybe he's getting over it." Falco stretched his legs out -- his turn was next to fight Ganondorf. "Poor thing."

Luigi laughed at Falco's sacrasm. Oh well... he thought to himself and continued watching. He himself was to battle Roy shortly -- one battle he wasn't particularly looking foreward to.

Compared to the day before, this particular day just didn't seem... interesting. There were lots of matches going on, but hardly anyone was fighting with heart. The only one who seemed to be into what he was doing was Roy. But of course, that wasn't a big shocker to anyone. Roy was always excited about fighting, and never tired of it. And because of that, he won all of his matches that day. The fact that he had had an awesome night the night before couldn't have hurt his spirits, either.

As Luigi walked off the stage from fighting Roy, he just fell over, exhausted. He hadn't remembered feeling that tired from fighting anyone in a long time. It wasn't a big deal. Even Mario had lost a few.

Roy laughed as he watched his latest victim struggle to recover.

"What's gotten into you today?" a voice asked from behind.

"Samus!" Roy exclaimed, turning around. "What's up?"

"Nothing much, just watching you cream everyone that even dares challenge you. Been training hard?"

Roy sighed, stoking his once broken arm. "Not really. Ever since my arm healed, I've been kind of slow, trying to get it back to where it used to be. It just seems like no one is with it today."

"I know what you mean," Samus replied. "Is everything okay?"

"Not sure about that. It's almost scary to see everyone fighting so poorly. It seems as though we're all zombies."

Samus just shrugged. "Things will get back to normal. Everyone's either tired from staying up late or they're like Mario."

Roy looked at Samus with confused eyes as she just laughed. "Mario got drunk last night. Maybe that's why he tried all those dance moves."

Roy chuckled and looked out on the field where Mario and Peach were now fighting against each other.

"I'll be right back," Roy said, excusing himself while he eyed Marth, sitting on a nearby bench. In Marth's arms was his daughter, Kendall.

"What's up?" Roy asked, sitting beside his best friend.

Marth smiled down at his daughter as she sat in his lap, looking at a picture book. "Just the same. And I'm really tired, Roy. But I guess everyone is." Marth yawned and stroked Kendall's hair.

Roy grinned and turned his gaze to Kendall, who was laughing softly, still looking at her book. Roy almost began to laugh, too, at the child's innocence. But something caught his eye, and it was fairly unpleasant.

He tried to ingnore it, and just shook his head. "So did you finally just decide not to go anywhere with Peach?"

"We can't even find the time, Roy," Marth replied. "So I guess not. And things haven't been going so well for us, anyway. We've been arguing more, and about stupid things."

Roy looked down at the ground and watched a small bug make its way across his boot. "I noticed that you didn't hang around her much last night. You hardly talked at all."

"I guess that's what happens when you made a mistake early in your life, huh?"

Roy was quiet, not wanting to comment on anything. He kept glancing back at Kendall, then at Marth, who hadn't even looked at him once since he'd sat down. Finally, curiosity got the better of Roy.

"Marth?" Roy asked, his voice completely serious.

The Prince was startled. "Roy, what is it?" For the first time, he finally looked at his best friend. "Something wrong?"

Roy gently took a hold of Kendall's arm. The little girl looked up at her "Uncle Roy" curiously. Roy turned her arm and pointed to a particular spot.

"How the hell did that get there?"

Marth's eyes doubled their original size once he caught sight of the abnormal sized bruise on his daughter's arm.

** ~ ** ~ ** ~ ** ~ **

Zelda yawned as she sat up in bed. She was thankful that there was nothing scheduled for her this morning, which was abnormal. Of course, she was feeling a little under the weather since it had been extra cold the past few mornings, and her body wasn't used to the sudden change. Maybe Link had informed the Master Hand that she had woken up at 6:00 AM, sick to her stomach... again.

"Gosh, I feel awful," Zelda moaned as she flopped back down on her plush pillow. Last night had been wonderful. But why on Earth did she have to wake up feeling like a train had run over every inch of her body?

Link had come in, as if on cue, to find Zelda still lying in their bed, her hand resting gently on her stomach.

"Feeling better?" Link asked with a smile as he sat down beside her.

"A little. How was this morning at the battle fields?"

Link sighed, then answered, "No one was fighting well. Roy won all his matches. The rest of us were lucky to win two of our own."

Zelda giggled and sat up, taking a hold of Link's hand. She kissed his hand gently and gave him a warm hug. "I'm glad you're back, though. I was lonely in here, all by myself."

Link hugged her back and rocked her gently. "I hate that you're feeling bad. Of course, I think everyone is this morning." Link proceeded to tell Zelda about Mario's hangover, making her laugh.

Suddenly feeling her stomach begin to roll over again, Zelda sat up straight and left Link's arms in a rush.

"Zelda! Are you alright?" Link called after her, but she had already run to the restroom.

Link got comfortable on their bed and laid down. He was exhausted from the battles, but staying up most the night hadn't helped, either. He yawned and closed his eyes, dozing off slightly.

He wondered what was making Zelda feel so bad. As far as he knew, there wasn't any virus going around, and she hadn't eaten anything that could have made her sick; not unless some of the others were sick, too. But everyone else was there this morning, feeling fine, with the exception of a few hangovers.

Zelda came back slowly and laid down beside Link, resting her head on his chest. "I feel terrible. I wish I knew what was wrong."

"Could it be just a virus?" Link asked, rubbing her back. "Maybe you caught something."

"I'm not sure, Link," Zelda said, once again sitting up. "I didn't want to tell you, but this happened yesterday morning as well."

He swallowed the knot in his throat. He had heard of that symptom somewhere before, but where?

It only took him a few seconds of sitting there quietly to remember. It it wasn't that, then he wasn't sure what else it could be.

So he looked at his wife with caring eyes, and asked his question.

"Zelda, are you pregnant?"

** ~ ** ~ ** ~ ** ~ **

"How? Can you tell me?"

Marth, still suprised that he hadn't noticed it earlier, didn't blink once. "I... I have no clue, Roy."

"That's an awfully large bruise she has, you know. You don't just get those from falling off a bike or rolling off a couch. How could you do that to your own daughter?"

"WHOA! Wait a moment!" Marth exclaimed, holding Kendall tighter. "You dare think that I did this to her?"

"Who else, Marth?" Roy questioned. "Who else would have done it? Or are you going to use one of those excuses like 'she hurt herself playing ball' ?"

Kendall looked up at the two who were yelling.

"Stop it!" she yelled, putting her hands over her ears. "Stop it, Uncle Roy! Don't yell at Daddy!"

Marth got up off the bench, still holding Kendall, talking to her quietly. "Honey, I want you to come with me, alright? I want to talk to you for a moment." He then looked at Roy. "I'll be right back, okay? Meet me in the lobby in about fifteen minutes."

Roy glared at Marth, but agreed.

Marth shook his head and walked with his daughter, all the way to the nursery in the Smash Building. He set Kendall down on on soft chair and kneeled in front of her.

"Sweetheart, I want to ask you some questions, okay? And I want you to be completely honest with me. I'm your daddy. And remember what I always told you? To always tell the truth, even when it seems like lying will be the easier way out. Because in the long run, someone always finds out anyway."

Kendall nodded her head. "I remember, Daddy."

Marth smiled at the young Princess. "Alright, I'll start off by asking you how you got hurt." He pointed to the bruise on her arm. "How did it get there?"

Kendall looked around for a moment, almost as if she was checking for someone in particular. "I have more than that one, Daddy."

Marth gasped, but tried to remain calm. Finding his breath, he asked, "Can you show them to me, Kendall?"

She slid herself off the chair and sat in the floor in front of Marth. She slipped off her sandals and pulled up one of her pants legs to reveal another bruise, just slightly smaller than the one on her arm. "I have that one, too."

"Anymore?"

"No, no more," Kendall replied. "They hurt."

"I bet they do," Marth replied lovingly, stroking her hair. "But you didn't answer my question. How did those get there?"

Kendall once again got silent. Marth watched her carefully, and soon saw tears began to stream slowly down her cheeks.

"Mommy hates me, Daddy." She ran to him and threw her arms around his neck. "Mommy hates me."

Marth held her tightly. "Did Mommy do this to you, Kendall?"

The child only sobbed into the Prince's shoulder, gripping onto him tightly.

"I'm afraid."

Marth grew angry, but tried to control it for Kendall's sake. He kept thinking about what Kendall had been saying to him, and could only pray that his suspicions were not correct.

** ~ ** ~ ** ~ ** ~ **

Peach laughed as she walked into the large dining hall of the Smash Building. Beside her was Mario, still holding his head.

"Great fight," Peach said, patting him on the back. "Didn't expect you to lose, though."

"I expected me to lose."

Peach just laughed harder as Mario grinned, and they both took a seat at the end of one of the tables. "Hungry?"

"Yeah, since it's lunch time. I'm starting to feel better."

"Good. I guess it'll teach all of us not to do too my partying the night before some serious battles."

Marth rounded the corner caustiously as he watched Peach and Mario talking. But that cautiousness soon broke into a run and he was at their table in no time. He placed his hand her her shoulder softly.

Peach turned around fast, feeling Marth's touch. "Marth!"

"Peach," Marth said calmly, not wanting to scare her or to make a scene. "We really need to talk, alright? Alone."

"Does it have to be now?" Peach asked, looking at Mario. "I was in the middle of lunch."

"It needs to be as soon as possible," Marth said. "How about after lunch, meet me in our room. This can't wait. It's urgent."

Peach simply nodded as Marth turned around and exited the dining hall.

"I wonder... " Mario began, but never finished his sentence. "Peach, what's wrong?"

"N.. Nothing, I'm fine."

"You're lying."

Peach took a small sip from her glass of tea. "You're right, I'm lying. But I think he knows."

"About... that?"

She stared down at her plate, not wanting to look at Mario. "It's the only thing I could think of that he could possibly know about. Unless he found out about the time -- "

Mario gulped and looked to see if anyone was listening, then spoke softly. "That time we slept together?"

** ~ ** ~ ** ~ ** ~ **

"Zel, did you hear me, honey? Are you pregnant?" Link had watched his wife's expression change from so many different things in just a few seconds time.

Still, she said nothing, her heart not sure if the statement made her excited or fearful. Because Link had already objected to trying to have another child so soon. Of course, it had been four months since the accident, but for Link, that four months wasn't enough time to make sure her body was completely healed.

Link kissed her on the cheek, feeling her confusion. "Would you like to go visit Dr. Mario to find out?"

Zelda looked deep into his eyes and found nothing but pure concern. "I know you don't want a baby, Link."

"And the only reason I don't at the moment is because I want to make sure your body can handle it first," Link said softly as he squeezed her hand.

"We can't change if it I'm pregnant."

"Zelda, I know that honey. Don't get upset. Please."

Zelda wriggled her way out of Link's grasp. "Listen, I know that you want to protect me, Link, but I'm a grown woman. If there is a baby inside of me, then there's no taking it back. So just get prepared to be a father!"

And with that, she stormed out of the room.

Link hung his head. He was now the one confused. "No," Link whispered. "Moodswings. I think she's certainly pregnant."

** ~ ** ~ ** ~ ** ~ **

"Dr. Mario!" Zelda called, knocking on his office door. He soon answered and let her in.

"So what's the problem, Zelda? I understand you were sick this morning."

"Yes, but I would just like to get to the point. I would like a pregnancy test. Because after Link spoke to me, I hadn't even thought that I might be pregnant. I told him that this happened yesterday morning, too. And come to think of it, the day before that."

"Hrm, I see." Dr. Mario walked into a back room and came out with a needle. "I'll need a blood sample. We'll do this the 'for sure' way instead of using one of those home things."

She cringed as the doctor pricked the bend of her arm, drawing enough blood from her for a good testing. "That should do it. I'll test this and get back to you, alright?"

"That quick?"

"Yes, that quick. How many of the other female Smashers are pregnant?"

Zelda laughed and walked out of the doctor's office, one hand resting on her stomach. "I hope I have a baby in there," she said to herself, unknowing that Roy was standing behind her.

"Zel?" he asked loudly. "What's up? You okay?"

Zelda whirled around in suprise. "Sure! Just fine."

"I overheard you. You and Link having a family?"

"I hope so," she said happily, but then if faded as fast as it came. "I was awfully mean to him back in our room when he was only concerned about me. I feel awful; maybe I should go apologize."

Roy shrugged. "I'll talk to you later, then. Right now, I have to go find Marth, he's in a bit of a predicament right now."

The two separated, Zelda going back to her room, where Link was still sitting on the bed. He was now almost fully undressed, except for a pair of boxer shorts.

"I'm sorry, Link."

He looked up at her, his eyes sad. "Zelda, I didn't mean -- "

"I know, you didn't. And I don't see how I could have thought you did. I'm sorry. But I did go see Dr. Mario, just like you said I should."

"And?"

"He'll let us know."

Link nodded with a smile, taking Zelda back into his arms. "I guess all we do now is wait."

** ~ ** ~ ** ~ ** ~ **

"Okay, Marth, I'm ready to talk." Princess Peach's eyes then averted to her daughter, sitting on the bed. "I thought you said alone."

"What I meant was away from everyone else. This has to do with Kendall. That's why she's here. And I'm just going to get straight to the point, Peach." Marth walked over to Kendall, who was getting slightly uneasy. "Sweetie, let me show Mommy, okay?"

Kendall moved off the bed and sat on the floor, her legs straight out in front of her. She did for Peach as she had done for Marth: pulled up her pants leg to reveal the large bruise.

"And you see that? There's one on her arm, but a little bigger. See it?" Marth pointed that one out as well. "Oh! And something else? You wanna know what she told me when she showed me these?"

Peach's face was already pale, but with each passing word, she was still losing color.

Marth opened the door quickly and called Roy, who had been standing outside. He then whispered, "Take Kendall, alright? I don't want her to hear us fighting over this if anything happens."

Roy nodded and took the young Princess down the hall to the play areas.

Marth then turned back to Peach. "She said this: 'Mommy hates me, Daddy.' Now why would my little girl say that? There's only one thing I can think of, Peach. And you better fess up. No sense in lying. You don't get bruises like that from simple accidents, especially in more than one place! You see how bad those things look?!"

Peach stood there speechless. She knew that she had been caught, and this time, there was no lying her way out of it like she had so many times before.

** ------------------------------- **

Author's Note: And that's Chapter 18! And it's SOO soap opera-ish! AH! Honestly, I'm trying. ^_^ Next chapter should be up real soon, it's already half way done. :)

Sorry that the URLs were not in the last chapter! I've noticed that a lot of ULRs are not showing up in Chapters of other stories. *ouch* I'll try to post them again:

For the Yahoo Group: groups.yahoo.com/group/globalcameramode
If you're interested in the picture, you can email me for that URL, since it's Yaoi; Marth/Roy ^_^

About the last chapter: I know that it didn't fit the story line or anything like that. I just felt like having a little fun since it had been a while since I'd actually written anything. I appreciate the reviews and responses I got for the last chapter. It DOES feel good to actually be writing again! ^_^ I'm still on a little bit of a busy schedule. All-State is in exactly a month, and I have to practice hard for my chair placement. And I've also taken up the clarinet in my spare time. :) I really like the clarinet.

Important Note: I am highly considering upping this fiction's rating up to R. It will still be written in this fashion, so if you don't feel offended (or anything of that nature) by what I am currently writing, then it should still be okay for you to read. However, if I do up this to R, it will give me the freedom to write even larger themes and such as I have been doing. I don't want to violate any of the rules on FF.net, and I'm afraid I may end up doing that if I keep this story PG-13.

Whew... there's a lot of fanfictions that I have to get back to! I haven't read some of the ones that I've been keeping up with in such a long time.... I feel kind of awful about it, lol!

THANKS FOR ALL THE REVIEWS! I was so happy to see that they reached over 200! ^_^

-- ** Sherri