Chapters may be in more than one person's point of view from now on. This will let you see what's going on in the mind of others, such as Falco, Nana, Luigi, and many of the other characters.
Chapter 2 - Bird of Prey, Fox Hunter
*Fox McCloud*
"Get back here, you lanky plumber!!"
Pichu's powerful, cute voice came blasting from the speakers of the stadium. He was chasing after Luigi, who he had blasted forward with an electric blast. Both Luigi and Yoshi had lost a stock, while Pichu lost one as well. Mr. Game & Watch was at a high percentage, but was enduring wonderfully.
Mr. Game & Watch and Pichu were now fighting Luigi and Yoshi in Kongo Jungle. It all helped to take my mind off Zelda and Link's kiss; the catchy rap song, Pichu and Mr. Game & Watch's taunts and puns, and the action of the fight.
Yoshi and Mr. Game & Watch were fighting on the incredibly dangerous boulder that stood out of the waterfall. The two dimensional man was using his bug spray to hit Yoshi with gusts of wind. ...Actually, it could be an air pump too, but either way, it shot gusts of air.
"We will pump you up!" Mr. Game & Watch exclaimed as he hit Yoshi with several blasts.
Pichu was attacking Luigi with a full-assault of electric attacks and physical blows. The little mouse did almost as much damage to himself as Luigi did to him, but he was racking up some serious damage onto the plumber.
I could hear the crowd cheering for any of the four battlers. All four were lovable in their own special ways, yet I had my bet on the two pun tellers.
Mr. Game & Watch's head suddenly turned into a scuba-diving helmet, and he slammed his cranium against Yoshi, shooting the dinosaur into the sky and into the background. At the same time, Pichu hit Luigi with a strong headbutt of his own and sent the plumber into the far jungle.
"Pichu and Mr. Game & Watch win!" Captain Falcon, who was the announcer, exclaimed.
The crowd cheered loudly for the two clowns when they were teleported back, bouncing up and down in sheer delight. It had been somewhat of a close call, for any strong move from either Luigi or Yoshi would've knocked them out at the end.
Luigi and Yoshi were complimented on how well they did, and they felt better. Pichu and Mr. Game & Watch went to their seats, and the instant they were sitting down, Mr. Game & Watch exclaimed, "Flat Zone! Pick Flat Zone!!"
Captain Falcon snickered, then looked down at the list. "Well, next is...oh, Samus Aran and myself against Mario and Peach Toadstool!"
Samus Aran, now clad in her bounty hunter suit, walked down to the teleporter, clanking with every step. Mario and Peach walked down too, determined and confident in their abilities.
Mewtwo was now behind the controls. It watched as the four came down to the teleporter, and stood on their platforms. Samus Aran removed her helmet for a short amount of time and said something to Captain Falcon that I couldn't hear. I couldn't have been too nice, for Captain Falcon glared at her darkly as she put her helmet on.
"Teleporting beginning now," Mewtwo informed them, then pushed a few buttons with his round fingers.
After the combatants were done being teleported, the maps were put on.
"Take a wild guess what we want!" Pichu shouted.
"Hyrule Temple!" Young Link exclaimed.
"Peach's Castle!" Bowser shouted, speaking up for once.
"Fourside!" Nana shouted.
"Big Blue!" I cried out, wanting to see something that could really take my mind off my sorrow.
Mewtwo had its arms crossed and was looking at us emotionlessly. It kind of creeped me out, the way it stared at us like that. Suddenly, the psychic Pokémon reached out with his finger and picked Big Blue'.
"Ah, good! Action!" Falco exclaimed.
I nodded, then leaned back and tried to relax. Tried to keep my mind off Zelda and Link kissing...trying to keep it off my and Falco's tough fight coming up soon...
*Nana*
The fight between the two bounty hunters and Mario and Peach in Big Blue was not so interesting to me. I wasn't into high-speed, heavy-hitting action like that. I liked action, but my mind was somewhere else.
Ness. The cute boy who had stolen my heart.
I loved his brown eyes, how his black hair stuck out from his hair, his skills and amazing powers. He was just too cool!
I was sad when I heard that he had a girlfriend. Popo, who had instantly befriended him, had found this out from Luigi and told me. Her name was Paula, yet I had never met her. I wondered why she didn't come to the tournament?
I was sitting inbetween Ness and Popo right now, Ness on my left and Popo on my right. My eyes more focused on Ness rather than the fight, however. Both he and Popo were engrossed in the fight, which was a typical thing for a boy, I guess.
We were all about thirteen years old, just barely teenagers. I had turned thirteen a few weeks ago, and Popo had turned thirteen about a month ago. I didn't know about Ness, but he looked exactly as old as my brother.
I worked up the courage to speak to him again. "You know, we're on next! Are you ready?" I asked.
"How sweet, Nana!" I cursed myself in my mind. "THAT is sure to get him interested in you!"
Ness looked at me, his beautiful eyes looking into mine. "Yes. Are you?"
"Yeah, considering if I can convince Popo I'll be fine!" I joked.
He laughed, then there was a shout from Captain Falcon. He quickly looked at the fight to see what was going on, and I glanced as well. It seemed that Captain Falcon had fallen on the road and had lost a stock from being too far behind, but however that happened was a mystery.
Ness looked back at me, and I quickly looked back at him. "You know, I don't think you have to worry about Popo worrying about you if he can trust me to be your partner."
I nodded. Popo had introduced me to Ness, which is why I knew so much about him now, because since Popo always wants to stay close to me, Ness is not far away. My brother was also quite aware of my infatuation for him. So much, that he did something quite out of the ordinary at the partner selection.
When Mario called Popo, he assumed that he and I would be paired, so he asked if that were so. Popo said something like, "I would really like to fight with my sister, but I wanted to try battling with my new friend, Young Link! You can pair her up with Ness though! I'm sure that'd be okay with both of them!"
At first, I was angry with my brother. I thought he was just giving me a hard time, and trying to be the teasing, older brother'. It turned out that he just wanted me to be closer friends with Ness so that we all would be comfortable when we were all just fooling around'.
Well, I surely wanted to be closer to Ness, but he had a girlfriend! I wasn't about to ruin a happy relationship, no matter how much I wanted Ness to be mine.
"So...um...how's your girlfriend, Paula?" I asked, trying my best to sound casual.
"Paula? Oh, yes. We broke up, but we're still friends." Ness informed me.
My heart leapt with joy, and I tried not to smile. "...Uh...may I ask how come?"
"Well, I travel a lot, and she wanted to stay at her home. Also, since I'm going to be gone so much, I wanted her to have more freedom, so I told her that she could other boys if she wanted. We're still good friends though. After all we went through, we'll always be friends."
I nodded, smiling at him. "She sounds like a nice girl."
"Oh, she is. She's very sweet and caring, but she doesn't have that sense of adventure like I do. Probably why I hang around with you and your brother."
I hoped that the reason he would be with me was not JUST that, but I nodded. "Hey, we girls are all different!" I giggled, fidgeting with my mallet nervously. Trying to think of something else to say, I blurted out, "Are you seeing someone now though?"
"No, not really."
"Ah," I commented. Jeez, why was it getting so hot in here? My suit was feeling like an oven. I quickly unbuttoned my jacket, and it still felt no cooler. I was wearing a casual, yellow T-shirt underneath, not that it mattered though. My head was starting to spin from the heat, and I quickly pulled my hood off. I shook my head hard, my long, brown hair whipping around slightly. I had let it grow down to my shoulders, but most of it was kept under my hood.
I suddenly noticed Ness was staring at me, a look of amazement on his face. It couldn't be for me! ...Could it? "Ness, what is it?" I asked.
"Huh? Oh, nothing! Nothing!" he exclaimed, blushing slightly. "I just...never noticed what beautiful hair you have!"
I could feel my face flushing when he said that. I gripped my mallet nervously, worried I may start to crack in front of him. "Th-thank you!" I stammered.
I tried to relax, tried to calm myself down. I let go of my precious sledgehammer and leaned back. I laid my arms on the armrests, only to feel Ness's hand under my heavily covered one.
"Oh, sorry!" I squeaked as I whipped my hand away as I had stuck it in fire.
"It's okay! My fault!" he whispered. It was so cute how he was trying to be honest.
I grabbed hold of my mallet, wanting to hold onto something, as that was what I did when I was nervous. Looking up at the screen, there was an unusual sight. Samus was holding onto Captain Falcon's arm, as he was almost falling off the back of a racing car! I figured that Mario or Peach had knocked him off-balance, and then Samus had knocked them away to save Falcon. Both Mario and Peach were some distance from the bounty hunters.
Suddenly, feeling rather bold, I had an idea. Maybe it was the sense of adrenaline pumping that gave me the courage to seize the moment. I pulled off my left glove, then inched my hand over to him nervously. I placed my trembling hand over his, surprised by how warm his hand felt to mine.
When Ness looked up at me in surprise, I smiled weakly. I started to move my hand away, but his fingers caught hold of mine. Soon, our hands were intertwined, and I felt myself no longer shivering with fright. He made me feel...protected and safe. It felt so wonderful.
I was suddenly starting to hope that the people in this battle would take their time, for I wanted this to last as long as it could.
*Luigi*
It was upsetting to me that Mario and Peach lost their battle.
I've always respected my brother and his girlfriend. When Mario battles, he seems so in control. Peach also seems so calm when battling, like if she's not afraid of losing. It was amazing how they could remain so passive when battling, training, and all of the time!
Captain Falcon and Samus Aran didn't even like each other! It seemed strange that they won, for how can they have good teamwork if they don't like each other?
When they were transported back into the stadium, Peach and Mario didn't look too upset. In fact, they seemed to be okay with the fact that they lost their first battle!
Captain Falcon went back to his seat, not saying anything to Samus, who left so that she could change out of her mechanical suit. I wondered what those two thought of each other. They seemed to not like each other, but during the fight, Samus ran away from Peach when she had just destroyed her shield to save Falcon! She grabbed Mario with her Grappling Hook and threw him behind her, then ran up and grabbed Falcon's arm! Peach recovered from having her shield destroyed, never being hit when Samus could've hammered her hard.
Anyway, it wasn't a big deal. Why did it matter? Falcon and Samus won, and they didn't say a word to each other after the fight! Meanwhile, Mario and Peach were talking as Pichu was calling down the next battlers as if they were game show contestants.
"You did well Mario!" Peach chimed in her absolutely adorable falsetto voice. "I kind of dragged us down with me hovering around so slowly on such a fast-moving arena!"
"No, Peach. I'm more to fault. I lost both my stock by clumsily falling onto the road! You have better balance than me!" Mario admitted.
Peach smiled cutely and kissed his cheek. "You're so cute at times, you know that!"
I stopped watching the two lovebirds and tried to watch the fight that was now going on. Doctor Mario and Kirby were battling Ness and Nana (who, for some reason, wasn't wearing her hood) on the Pokémon Floats.
Yet Mario and Peach flirting with each other just reminded me of someone that I held in my heart.
Daisy Margarita, princess of Sarasaland Kingdom. I met Daisy at a huge tennis tournament that Mario had hosted. Ironically, I was also where I met the uninvited Waluigi. So at that tournament, I had met someone I really didn't like, and someone I really, very truly liked!
Although Peach is a wonderful gal, Daisy is more my type. She's pure-tomboy, loves to adventure and have fun, is very funny and is one of the sweetest people I remember. I remembered how when Lakitu tried to steal my trophy, she flung her racket at him and he dropped it when he was hit.
Unfortunately, she couldn't come to the tournament, although she was invited. She was too busy with Sarasaland Kingdom to make it this time. I could only think of her now; her gorgeous bronze skin, her inquisitive sapphire eyes, and her tough but also caring attitude.
Suddenly, I was called to attention by Pichu's loud shouting. Nana and Ness had beaten Kirby and Doctor Mario. I groaned at the fact that now everyone from Mushroom Kingdom except Bowser had lost. Sure, Ness and Nana won fair and square, and they both were just clinging onto one stock when the fight was over. I was just hoping that at least one GOOD Mushroom Kingdom star would've won!
Pichu announced the next fight: Fox McCloud and Falco Lombardi verses Mewtwo and Donkey Kong. I didn't really consider DK to be a Mushroom Kingdom star, for he's really out on his own now. He is a good friend of Mario now, so I hoped he'd win.
Then again, he and Mewtwo teamed together makes incredible firepower. Not to be offensive to Fox and Falco, but I don't think they stand much of a chance.
*Falco Lombardi*
So, it was time for us to battle? So be it! I wanted this whole thing to just get done and over with!
Zelda was behind the controls of the board, which I knew Fox must have been delighted about. There was no denying how sexy that chick was, but was Fox hoping that she would turn into a vixen or something? There were plenty of fish in the sea, but he was obsessed over just this one!
I honestly believe that Fox could have a girlfriend if he tried. I mean, once he dumped his shy and loner ways, he could have any girl he wanted! I guess that just isn't Fox though.
"Good luck, guys!" Zelda told us.
Fox smiled at her and nodded. "Thanks!" he replied. I snickered to myself. He was probably thinking some kind of romantic description for her voice. Something like, it is piped down honey-coated tubes from Heaven'. ...Naw, that just sounded silly.
"We'll need it!" I grunted at her, then walked onto my space of the teleporter. Donkey Kong and Mewtwo walked up a few seconds later and I swear, those two were practically grinning with joy. Donkey Kong was in his usual good mood and Mewtwo with its I will scramble your brains later on' look, but I knew they thought we were as good as done now.
"Okay then. Teleporting beginning!" Zelda exclaimed, and then my view of the theater disappeared. I appeared in the waiting zone' of the system, where everything is black all around except for a 3-D board of the arenas, with the cursor running all over.
After waiting for a few minutes, the map was picked: Jungle Japes. Ah, perfect. That level was a suicide graveyard!
When teleported there, I found myself on the right platform. Fox was far away, on the left platform. Donkey Kong and Mewtwo were in the middle, DK facing Fox, and the psychic cat facing me.
"Bring it on, you psychic weirdo!" I shouted at Mewtwo, motioning for it to come and get me.
"With great pleasure!" Mewtwo replied calmly and leapt towards me! I kicked out, but it disappeared! Dang! Where'd it go?
Suddenly, I felt something hard whip the back of my head. I lost my balance and hit the floor. Scrambling to my feet and looking around, I saw Mewtwo standing on the edge of the platform. It smirked and then reached out and gripped me with its psychic powers. Every part of my body refused to move!
"You are so foolishly arrogant!" it commented as lifted me to behind itself and blasted me off with a psychic burst.
I cursed myself, then used my Falco Phantasm to quickly get back on! Zipping forward, I caught Mewtwo off guard and hit it into the air! Ha!
"And so are you!" I laughed and kicked upwards, launching it further up. I leapt up and gave him a double kick, then turned on my Reflector. The sudden burst of energy knocked him higher up, and fell down to the platform.
Quickly trying to find out what was going to Fox, I looked around to where he should have been. Instead, I saw nobody! Where were they?!
I jumped over the pit that separated the platforms from each other. Then, suddenly, Fox came plummeting down from the sky! He was heading straight down into the river through the crack between the left and center platform!
I lost sight of him and looked up to see Donkey Kong in the air, still positioned in his Meteor Smash attack. I growled slightly and leapt up at him. Kicking and spinning my body, I hammered him with two kicks.
Suddenly, a burst of fire came shooting up from underneath me and nailed him! As he went soaring into the air, coursing with fire, I saw Fox fall down with me. He grabbed onto the ledge of the center platform when I landed on the platform itself. After pulling himself up, he pointed behind me and exclaimed, "Watch out!"
I turned around, pulling out my trusty laser gun. Mewtwo flung a fully charged Shadow Ball at me just when I laid eyes on it! I quickly turned on my Reflector and the huge ball of energy went shooting back to it. It connected with its owner, and sent him flying backwards. I ran after it, shooting my laser gun at the psychic weirdo.
"Come back here, you! You chicken!" I taunted him.
I heard Fox's blaster behind me shooting like a machine gun. He sure was putting it to use! Mewtwo came back with a teleporting movement and landed on the right platform.
"You've made me very angry!" Mewtwo growled, its eyes flashing a dangerous blue.
"Whine, whine, whine! Bring it on!" I called to him, motioning for him to come after me again.
It smirked, then jumped at me like I planned. I took aim with my laser gun...and jumped at it! With a downward kick, it went plummeting down into the river!
At first, I thought Mewtwo would recover like Fox did. Yet from the air, I saw the Klap Trap that bounces through the river slam into Mewtwo. Everyone knows that the Klap Trap is an instant loss, for touching him sends you plummeting down faster than the eye can follow, and you're doomed.
Mewtwo was hit by the Klap Trap and lost his first stock.
I turned around to see Fox dealing with an angry Donkey Kong. My friend was able to dodge his charged up Giant Punch, which was very, VERY good to not be hit by. Fox then grabbed him and hit him over the edge. When the giant monkey tried to jump back on, Fox used a splits attack to knock him down into the water. The current dragged him down and away until he too was defeated.
"All right, Fo-" I started, but was interrupted as I was shocked by electricity! I hit the floor, then saw a crackling Mewtwo glaring down at me. I stood up and tried to hit it with my fist, but it stopped all movement in my body with its psychic powers again.
"You will pay for that cheap trick!" Mewtwo hissed, then launched me forward at a downward, slanted angle.
Slamming against the right platform and then into the center platform's side, I found myself in the river.
"Cru-" I started to exclaim but then fell underwater. I tried powering up the Fire Bird, but the water's extinguished the flames before they could sprout. Everything went white, like if I had passed out, and then I found myself standing on the return platform.
Fox was now dealing with Mewtwo AND Donkey Kong, which was almost like suicide. Yet he was handling it beautifully.
Whenever they tried jumping at him, he would successfully knock them away with a well-timed hit. If they picked up an object and tossed it at him, he would turn on his Reflector, sometimes just in the nick of time, and the object would smack into either of our opponents.
Yet just when I dropped down from the return platform, Fox was defeated. Dodging a Giant Punch that Donkey sent at him, Mewtwo timed the throw of a baseball bat. A baseball bat is not just a killer when it is used for smashing; it's murder when you're hit by it when it is thrown. My vulpine friend was sent hurtling through the air and lost his first stock.
The good news was that Fox had racked up a good amount of damage (I presumed) and that we both had one stock. The bad news is that we had made Mewtwo and Donkey Kong very angry with us. That was not going to be good.
When Donkey Kong in an attempt to grab hold of me, I whipped my tail feathers around and hit him into the air. Fox McCloud grabbed hold of Mewtwo, kneed it a few times, and then smacked it forward.
Donkey Kong came down faster then I thought and hit me with his fists, knocking me across the center platform. Fox turned around and grabbed hold of the giant ape and then tossed him into the air. Then he took out his laser gun and blasted him with a few shots.
"Gee, I've been saved by Fox! How swell!" I replied, grinning at the same time. I loved saying that whenever Fox saved me, whether it was fighting or Arwing battling. Fox smirked back at me.
Suddenly, I saw Mewtwo charging up it Shadow Ball attack! Before I could warn Fox, who was closer, it threw the deadly projectile at my friend! Thinking fast, I jumped to Fox and pulled us both to the ground. The Shadow Ball flew over us and we were safe. For the moment.
"Thanks, buddy!" Fox muttered as he picked himself up.
"No problem!" I replied. Look around, I saw the lumbering monkey behind me and Mewtwo right behind Fox!
"WATCH OUT!!" we exclaimed at the same time, pointing at the opponent who was behind our friend. We slapped hands together, held on tight, and, exactly like Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker, jump-kicked at our approaching enemies.
Those kicks finished the job. Donkey Kong and Mewtwo went hurtling backwards from those kicks. Both lost their last stock, almost at the same time.
"YEEE-HAAAA!!" I exclaimed. We high-fived several times, then posed.
Everything turned white again, and I found myself back in the stadium. I wasn't expecting much when we got back, but I surely wasn't expecting them to be dead quiet!
They were all staring at us, some with their mouths open. No applause, no cheering, no nothing. Just like Bowser and Ganondorf...did they consider our victory as bad as those jerks?
I felt my rage boiling inside of me...
*Fox McCloud*
I was amazed that the crowd was silent when we arrived back. Falco was studying the crowd, maybe expecting them to say something. I quickly looked at my opponents, hoping they weren't still bitter.
Donkey Kong looked a bit angry and disappointed, but okay. Mewtwo...it's hard to tell what it's thinking. My best guess is that it was upset that it lost, and was wondering what it did wrong.
"Well, sheesh!" I suddenly heard Falco exclaim. Quickly turning around, I saw Falco was glaring at the crowd, his fists clenched in tight balls. "Talk about your tough crowds!"
He sulked over to the nearest door and swung it open so forcefully, the sound the doorknob made when it hit the wall was deafening. "Come on, Fox!" he called to me, then stormed out of the building.
I looked weakly at the audience, not knowing what to do and also unsure as to what to do. Yet Falco was my only friend, so I quickly decided to follow him.
The only thing I did to acknowledge the audience was to just shrug helplessly at them, and then take off after Falco. Actually, I only shrugged at the crowd to see if I could see what Zelda looked like, but she wasn't there!
Just when I left the stadium, I barely made out her voice with my very acute hearing skills. It sounded like she said something like, "I'm back! ...Oh, it's over? Who won?"
At dinner, Falco was still in a sulking mood. He hadn't said a word to anyone but me. I didn't understand his frustration, to be honest.
"Bunch of stupid...racist morons!" Falco grumbled as he ate his dinner, which was a hamburger.
The dinner room looks like a school's cafeteria, except without the park tables. The tables are a solid blue color, and the chairs are comfortable. There were plenty of tables and seats, so anyone who wanted to sit alone and away from the others could do so.
"Falco, please don't be so upset at them! It's not like they booed us!"
"They might as well! What, are we not good enough for these stupid gi-"
"Sssssssh!" I hissed, pointing a gloved finger at the others. "They'll hear you!" Falco grunted, and went back to eating.
A man walked up to us just then. He was a human, was about in his thirties, brown short hair and green eyes, and average height and weight. "Excuse me, Falco Lombardi?" he asked my friend.
"What is it?" he asked coldly.
"There's a message for you!" the man replied, handing him a small envelop. "It was sent as Personal Only'."
A Personal Only' message is one that is not to be read by ANYONE except the one who receives the message, and to one he wished to show it to.
Falco raised an eyebrow, then took the message from the man. The man bowed a little to us, then left the cafeteria.
"I wonder what the blazes this stupid message is!" Falco grumbled. He ripped the envelope open, looking even more frustrated and angry now.
"Must be important, if it is Personal Only'!" I commented, sipping my drink as I watched him.
"You think?" he replied sarcastically. He pulled the small piece of paper out and started reading it. Then his eyes turned from angry to...fear?
"Falco?" I spoke up, noticing his facial expression. Yet he continued reading it, and he looked more and more nervous as he read on. "Falco, what is it?!"
"N-Nothing!" Falco shoved the note into his jacket pocket.
"What was that about?" I asked, persisting to find out what was troubling my friend.
"Awwww, Fox! You worry too much about me! It was nothing!" Falco punched my arm, his usual mood replacing the fearful one.
"But...what was that message about?"
"Just some stupid prankster, angry about...our victory!" Falco chuckled. "To think I got upset over some moron's threat!"
"He threatened you?!" I almost shouted.
"Yeah, no big deal. Celebrities get death threats in their mail from time to time! I guess this is proof that I'm finally a big celebrity!"
Falco laughed out loud but I could only chuckle weakly. The thought of someone threatening to kill my good friend made me worried and furious at the same time. The thought of Falco being KILLED was horrible enough.
"So...you're okay with it?" I asked him.
"Yeah, yeah! Gosh, Fox! Don't let the turkeys get you down' is what you always say to me!"
"Turkeys don't threaten to kill you!"
"Yeah, well, he doesn't mean it."
"How do you know it's a he?"
"Could any woman out there resist such a beautiful body?" he asked me, motioning to himself.
We both laughed out loud, and I felt comfortable once again. Falco knew how to cheer me up fast; that was one of the many things I liked about him.
I suddenly heard someone clear his or her throat loudly in front of us. Looking up, I saw Marth holding a single sheet of paper and waiting for us to look at us.
"We ain't voting you president, Marth!" Falco snickered. "I'm not signing any list!"
"This is the paper saying who fights who tomorrow at what time." Marth informed us. "I'm quite certain that you'd like to see it."
"As long as we're kicking Ganondorf's and Bowser's arse!" Falco snickered as he reached out and snatched it from Marth's hand.
"You are," he replied, then started to walk away but stopped. He looked back at us and added, "By the way, great fight today. You two did very well."
Falco grunted as Marth walked away. "Probably wants to ease up his conscience."
"Marth is one of the most honorable people here, Falco," I defended him.
"He's a prince or something like that. He has to either be that, or a tyrant." Falco replied, then looked down at the sheet of paper. "Oh, look. Your angelic girlfriend goes first!"
I snickered, then asked, "Who are they against?"
"Marth and Roy. Two princes against a princess and her boyfriend. ...Oh, yeah, sorry Fox."
"Sorry? For what?"
"You don't like me talking about Link being Zelda's...you know."
"I don't mind. What's true is true. I have to tell myself the same thing so that I don't go up to her and start flirting with her!"
Falco burst out laughing and started hammering the table with his fist. It took him about two minutes to stop laughing, then he grinned at me. "You try and flirt openly with a girl?" He started laughing again.
I chuckled, knowing how impossible that was for me to do. At seventeen years old, I had not once flirted with a girl as openly as Falco could.
Falco stopped laughing, then patted my back. "That's why I admire you, Fox! You don't go in there and get yourself killed! You let them come to you! I probably could've had a girlfriend by now if I hadn't been so forthcoming!"
"What about Katt?" I asked him, surprised. "I thought she liked you!"
"Man, we went out for three months, then we broke up!" Falco groaned. "We just decided not to tell anyone, that's all!"
"How come?"
"...Hey, you know my ego. Could you imagine how Slippy would react if he found out that handsome, successful Falco had broken up with one of the most beautiful women in the Lylat system?"
"I see."
"He'd never let me live it down!" Falco exclaimed then went back to the paper. "Well, Mr. Game & Watch and Pichu go against Ness and Nana, and then Captain Falcon will fight the winner the next day. Also, we're against Bowser and Ganondorf!"
I nodded, finishing off my drink at the same time. "Think we're going to surprise everyone again, and crush those two?"
"We can run circles around those two slugs!" Falco laughed, then stood up. "Well, I'm going to my room."
"So soon?" I asked him.
"Yeah. I was going to watch this one show I like that I've been neglecting."
Our dorms are kind of like college dorms, except they are for one person only each (Popo and Nana, however, requested that they are in the same room). We brought some personal things in from our homes to these dorms, and they also installed things that the being living in it might like to have. Falco asked for a TV, but I didn't want anything like that.
"Here, you take the times," Falco handed me the paper for the times and battles. "We don't have to wait for all of the battlers for the first one, and I know how much you want to see your vision of loveliness' battle Marth and Roy." He snickered at his joke, then continued. "You can come wake me up and we'll see it together. I think Marth and Roy will win, but I know who YOU are rooting for!"
"You'd better believe it!"
"Well, see you tomorrow! Don't hit on Zelda unless I can see it!" Falco left the auditorium, laughing his head off.
I couldn't help but smile at the thought of me trying to use a dumb pick-up line for Zelda. The thought was ludicrous.
The rest of the day went all right. I went to the Target Test to brush up on my skills. I beat my old time by half a second, which is pretty good, considering how tight my old time was. I also tried the Homerun Contest but couldn't get the punching bag to go any further than usual. I tried doing a combination of punches and kicks, and every fighting combo attack I could think of.
When nighttime rolled around, I went to my dorm at last. I decided to read a little before going to sleep. I have to put on reading glasses, for I'm a tad far-sighted. After so many intense Arwing battles, I'm much better at seeing things from far away, but for things like reading books, I have to wear these glasses. They're not as annoying as I thought they would be when I had to get them when I was fourteen.
After reading for about an hour, I set the time for my alarm clock, then went to bed.
* * *
BEEEEEEP!! BEEEEEEP!! BEEEEEEP!! BEEEEEEP!! BEEEEEEP!!
I groggily pushed the button on the clock that turned off the alarm. I hated that alarm; I was thinking of asking for a new alarm clock.
Waking up as always been hard for me, but when I remembered that Zelda and Link were going to battle, my body seemed to be full of energy. I sprang out of bed and walked out of my dorm.
The sun hammered my eyes when I walked outside, and it took a few seconds to get adjusted to the intense sunlight. After I adjusted, I yawned and stretched in the sunlight, basking in its warmth.
I walked over to Falco's dorm room. He had a bumper sticker on his door that said, Laser guns don't kill people. I DO!!' It always made me chuckle; that was surely something Falco would say.
I knocked on the door. "Falco! Come on, buddy!" I called to him. I waited for about a minute, but there was no reply. "Falco! Hey, come on! I don't want to be late!"
There was still no reply. Had Falco already gone to the stadium? Was he in a really deep sleep? I took hold of the doorknob and pushed forward, but it didn't budge!
"Falco? Did you lock the door?" I called to him. I tried the door again, but it didn't seem locked. I shoved hard and the door swung open. I heard a chair clatter to the floor when I pushed it open; what was Falco doing?
I've seen Falco's room before. There is a bookcase to the direct right of the door, and in front of the door is his desk. The bathroom door is just beyond that, and the bed is to the left. The TV is against the eastern wall.
"Falco? Why was the door-" I started, but stopped when I saw him.
Falco lay splayed out on his bed. There was an unreadable look on his face, his eyes looking up lifelessly at the ceiling. In his right hand, he was clutching his laser gun. There was a bloody, fatal wound in the middle of his chest, and blood still ran down the bed sheets, which were covered in blood.
My heart stopped beating. My mind began spinning, and any kind of reality I thought existed vanished. I whispered his name, praying he wasn't dead.
Yet I could tell from the doorway that his body was already stiff from being dead for so long. My knees went weak and I collapsed to the ground, non-consciously still clutching the doorknob. Tears spilt from my eyes and fall to the floor, yet I didn't notice. My brain seemed to turn off completely.
Falco Lombardi, my closest friend, was dead.