Disclaimer: Despite the fact I know it should be the other way around, I always start a new chapter of this fic with the disclaimer- usually immediately after I have submitted the newest chapter to the public. This is my way of both denying the fact that I own the crap I've posted, and it also helps me to not look back on what I have written, so I can get through the next chapter without the burning desire to re-write the whole damn thing. Anyway, I don't own Smash Bros. Melee. Yet. He he he...

Several months later Another way I get through the guilt of not writing anything for months on end is to write these pointless author's notes, where I apologise for not writing in an eon or two, dispense the cookie (goes to backsplash007 for being such a loyal supporter), bitch about the fact the chapter is crap (lacking any kind of actual drive in this one) and then apologise for said crapness.

And all before I get to the actual fic.

Moving on.

Chapter 4: Platforming Hell

The castle was still. And silent. The quiet that enveloped the palace was such that you could hear the breaking of a mouse's heart. But it was not a peaceful quiet. It was a lack of sound that seemed to demand filling up. It was as though there was not merely an absence of sound, but a vacuum of noise, desperately clawing at any passing sounds to relieve the tension.

In fact, that summed up the silence in one. It was tense.

A rodent of some description skittered across the marble floor. It had been trying times for this small creature. The usual supply of scraps that were a common feature of this castle was no longer around. It had been able to scratch out a living in days gone by, by sneaking into larders and stealing what it could before the cook threw something at it, and if the cook's aim was particularly good and he couldn't make it to the larders, there was always the passing strike on the funny walking mushrooms.

But recently even the mushroom things had disappeared. Sure they tasted nasty and screamed like banshees every time it got a bit of one, but it was better than nothing. The rodent sighed a special kind of rodent sigh. It meant that maybe it was time to get out of here, find a new place to get food, and maybe start a family. It skittered across the floor, coming to a rest underneath a painting.

It sniffed the air. Something not quite right in the air here.

The picture began to shimmer. The rodent did have a rodent's sense of practicality, and promptly fled from the painting, and from the story entirely. For the record, it did find a new home, started a family and was responsible for an entirely new colony springing up in a fortress in the desert. Then it was eaten by a cat. Such is the fate of rodent heroes.

The painting rippled faster, and a plump short plumber was spat out grasping a shining gold object in his hand. He hit the ground awkwardly and skidded across the marble coming to a halt about ten yards from the picture. The picture rippled faster again and this time, Luigi came flying out, rolling as he it the ground, stopping just before he hit Mario.

They both sat there panting for a moment. Mario grinned, and showed Luigi the glowing object. It was a star. A shining gold star with a pair of eyes. It seemed to hover just above his hands. Luigi gazed at it, and grinned a mischievous little grin. Both plumbers let out a half breathed laugh.

But Mario's eyes grew concerned, "Where are the other two?"

The painting rippled again, and Link came flying out backwards, his hook shot extending into the now boiling painting. He hit the ground on his feet, and was immediately dragged back towards the painting. Mario and Luigi looked at each other and leapt up to grab the skidding elf.

Link cursed and began to haul on the hook shot. Weighed down by the two brothers he was able to stop his slow slide back towards the picture. The chain was still embedded in the rolling canvas and had begun to creak. Slowly the chain was dragged back, and a hand appeared out of the painting, gripping the chain so tightly the knuckles were white.

The hand was followed by an arm, and soon the entire top half of the prince of Altea could be seen, his expression grim with the effort. Link could contain himself no more, "You just had to go back for them didn't you?!" he growled as he tugged on the chain.

Marth said nothing, instead straining his eyes into the painting trying to catch a glimpse of the world he had just left. Link shook his head, the tension on the chain becoming too much for his fatigued arms. "Damn it! You two keep a hold on him!"

The plumbers did as they were told, and Link suddenly let go of the chain, pulling his bow as if from no where and notching an arrow. Taking aim so as not to hit Marth he let loose the arrow firing into the picture. There was a momentary scream of pain, and the force pulling on the chain was suddenly released. The result was Marth being catapulted out of the picture colliding with the two plumbers still clutching the hook shot, scattering bodies and equipment everywhere.

All the members of the party remained where they were, panting for a bit, as the events slowly settled down, each one coming down from the adrenaline rush in their own way. A sprite buzzed hesitantly above the group, unsure if there would be further excitement.

Marth rose to his feet, "Well, I got it," he said wearily, pulling another shining star from his belt pouch and tossing it to the plumbers. Mario grabbed it quickly, as the star began to accelerate upwards intent on escape.

"Look Marth, it was adequately explained to you. We go in. We grab one star. We get out," Link recited patiently. "Now, how many stars are we supposed to grab before every single walking mushroom and talking bomb gets wise and try to kill us?"

"One," Marth said carefully. He began to back away from the green clad elf. But he wasn't quick enough. Link leapt forward, grabbed him by the front plate of his armour and slammed him full force into the wall.

"So why is it every time we go in you see something shiny and we end up carving our way through hordes of bad guys!" he yelled two inches from Marth's face.

Marth sighed. This had been the fourth day in what he had found to be his personalised version of hell. The reason he was having such a lousy time was the plain fact that a lot of the things they were doing seemed so very pointless and needlessly annoying. Coupled with the Mario Bros. insistence that they follow the set formula of get stars, open star doors, get more stars, open more star doors, rinse, repeat etc.

Marth just wasn't built for all this jumping around on platforms. Link had taken to it like a duck to water, swinging from platform to platform, hook shotting his way well ahead of the group. Even the two brothers managed in their own slightly comical way. But Marth, who had worn heavy armour since he was eight years old and wasn't about to take it off any time soon, was finding it hard to bounce around the way the other three did.

It was getting slightly frustrating. And Marth knew what that meant. In a few more days it would be very frustrating. And after another few days it would be irritating. And after that... there would be trouble. Which was why he always took the opportunity to grab as many stars on the way out as he could, least they spend longer in, what he liked to call, platforming hell.

But he just smiled at Link and said, "Well, you know I like to stack the odds against myself."

Link glared at him, then turned to the plumbers, "So, how many more do we need to go see this Bowser friend of yours?"

"He's not our friend," spat Luigi.

"Figure of speech Luigi," said Mario reproachfully, "And that little stunt by you Mr. Prince has gotten us through to him."

Marth smiled in a smug fashion, prompting Link to glare at him even harder. "All right," Link said, "Let's go."

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Meanwhile, out in the hideously huge field, two horses trotted along calmly. One was a pure white stallion, a well muscled war horse, unafraid of even the most deadly of flying bits of wood and sharp pointy things. He was a proud and noble charger, willing to give his all to defend his country. Although now he was giving his all, filling himself with grass.

The other horse was a fairly sharp minded chestnut mare. Although not as powerfully built as the warhorse next to her, she had seen her fair share of fights, and was the equal to the war horse in terms of bravery. And, although the war horse would probably not admit it, she was a lot smarter than her companion. Although at this point, her superior intellect was busy eating grass.

The sky was blue, as it had been for the past few days. After an initial gallop of freedom the two horses had settled down to just trotting where ever their hooves took them. Although you might think that a huge grassy plain that extended beyond the horizons in all direction might be paradise for most horses, these two were used to adventuring. Now, even though the sun shone beautifully and the perfect amount of white puffy clouds drifted along lazily, they were bored.

Suddenly the white charger stopped munching grass. He looked up, and looked back to the spot on the horizon where the castle was. He cocked his head to the side as if considering something.

He whinnied something in horse to his companion, who just looked at him as if he was the most stupid animal on four hooves. The stallion shrugged, which is impressive on an animal with four legs. He waited a few more moments. Yes, now was the right time.

And started to gallop back towards the castle.

The chestnut mare looked at his rapidly retreating form. She offered a curse to all males, and charged after him.

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Author's Notes: For anyone who reads these, I was just looking back on all the reviews I got for this fic. I don't think I deserved half of them, and a lot of them make me out to be better than I am. But, they got me to the end of the story. For that I can only say thank you. And give cookies of course. On that note, cookie goes to backsplash007 for being one of my most loyal readers (although I doubt you're still hanging around to read this ;) )

Hopefully the next chapter will be out a lot quicker than this one was, but considering how long it took me to update this, that won't be that hard... so I guess I'll see you all again with the next decade :)

Thanks for reading :)