KT – DA: Come one, come all! It's the next chapter of Getting Over Our Troubles!
Link: /monotonously/ Joy.
KT – DA: Oh, Link, you're so mean! /cries/ Marth!
Marth: Yes, Milady?
KT – DA: Give me a status report! Do I own you yet?
Marth: um… no.
KT – DA: Wah!
Roy: Oh my God! Help!
Karanos: Bo-ha-ha-ha! You are mine! /grabs Roy/
/general chaos ensues for a little while/
KT – DA: Alright! That's enough!
Roy: Can't… breathe… Karanos… smothering…
KT – DA: Karanos, let go of him for a minute. He needs to do the stuff.
Karanos: hmph, fine.
Roy: Um… Kuroi Tenshi – Dark Angel does not own SSBM or any of its characters. She does own Sarah Holly still, in case you were wondering.
KT – DA: /muttering/ I DO own Marth… I do…
Link: Thanks for all your reviews. We enjoy reading your comments!
KT – DA: Here's the chapter.
Getting Over Our Troubles – Getting Back to Work
Sarah Holly didn't know what to do. Marth and Roy had managed to wrestle Link off of Zelda, once they made him understand the critical condition she was in. The two boys had carried the princess out of the room and made their way slowly to the hospital wing. Sarah had followed right after with Link, still horrified by the discovery. Link's continuous sobs alerted most of the other Smashers to the end of the search.
Now Sarah sat in the common room with the boys, trying unsuccessfully not to think about it.
Link sighed, and started bouncing his leg up and down. He'd stopped crying and was growing more impatient by the minute.
"What's taking that quack so long?" Link vented.
In another situation, Sarah might have laughed. "He's making sure she's alright. Don't rush it, Link."
"Besides," Roy said, "you've only just recovered yourself. You should be getting some rest."
Marth sat with his hands clasped in his lap. "What happened, Link?"
Link shuddered. "I'm not sure. I wouldn't let myself stop seeing myself stab her, so I just… stopped doing anything else. When I saw her sitting there like that, something snapped." He looked up at them, his eyes shining with tears. "I can't lose her. I'd die. I think… I think I love her."
At that moment, Dr. Mario rushed into the room. He looked flustered, but satisfied about something.
"She's stabilized. We've got her properly hooked to everything, and the medicine's got through her systems. She'll be okay."
Link stood up. "And we can visit her?"
Dr. Mario nodded. "I said I'd tell you first, didn't I? Come with me."
Link, Roy, Marth, and Sarah followed the little doctor to the hospital wing. Their trip was interrupted, however, when Master Hand called out to them from his office when they passed.
"Sarah, there you are. Come in here a moment. There's something I need to talk to you about."
Sarah nodded. "Go on to see Zelda," she said to the others. "I'll come by later."
She closed the door behind her and sat in the chair across from Master Hand.
Her employer put his elbows on the desk and rested his chin on his hands. "We have a problem, Sarah. Our sponsors are threatening to pull their support from the tournament if we don't start up the battles again."
Sarah was shocked. "What? They can't! We're still dealing with Zelda!"
"I know, and I told them about it, but they won't listen to reason. They're telling us to start the battles tomorrow. I've already set the battle roster, now I just need you to set the stages. Don't worry, I only made one of them an item battle. What really needs doing is cleaning up the Fountain of Dreams."
Master Hand pushed the battle roster over to Sarah and sat back. Sarah glanced through it quickly, and was relieved to find that none of the Smashketeers were scheduled to battle.
"Alright," Sarah said, picking up the roster and standing up. "Alright, but I don't like it."
Master Hand nodded. "I know you don't. Now, go make something for lunch. It's a little late, but I'm sure everyone's hungry by now."
Sarah agreed and bid him goodbye. As she headed for the kitchen, she looked at the roster more closely. Young Link was fighting Fox at Termina Bay first, Then Kirby would go against Yoshi on Yoshi's Island. Samus would fight the Ice Climbers on her home turf, Brinstar Depths.
In the kitchen, Sarah set the roster down on a table. Brushing her bangs out of her eyes, she turned, expecting to see her cell phone sitting on the counter by the stove. When she didn't, she looked around and ended up searching the entire kitchen. She didn't find it, and finally gave up and started preparing lunch.
The smells of cooking food brought the Smashers to the dining hall in groups, chatting uneasily about the events of the day. Sarah grabbed four plates, balancing them carefully on her arms, when she saw Marth, Link, and Roy come in. They joined her at the table, and the four of them began talking.
"Zelda's still asleep, but for some reason she looks better than she did before she disappeared," Marth said, taking a bite.
Link scowled. "I wanted to stay with her, but Dr. Quack Mario wouldn't let me."
Sarah smiled at the Hero. "You know, you really shouldn't over-exert yourself. Get some rest, you know?"
"Oh, I'll get some rest. It'll be in the hospital wing with Zelda," Link huffed.
Marth looked at Roy. "You went up to see Lady Peach, right? How is she doing?"
The redhead took a long drink from his cup and then set it down hard. "She's getting worse. She's very pale, and she can't sit up on her own. I took her temperature, and she's burning with fever." He paused for a moment, then added, "she should be in the hospital wing."
Link sighed lightly. "How did she get sick again?"
We don't know. She just collapsed," Sarah said.
The Hero of Time pushed back from the table and stretched. He picked up everyone's empty plates and headed for the kitchen. The others fell silent, thinking to themselves.
When Link returned, he was shaking, and he held a small basket in his hands. "What are these doing in the kitchen?" He held the basket out. The leftover mushrooms from Samus' gift to Peach were inside.
"Oh, Samus asked me to put some of those in Peach's omelette to cheer her up," Sarah explained.
Link turned white. "What?! Peach ate these?"
Roy stood up. "Link, what's wrong?"
Link picked up one of the mushrooms. "These things only grow in Gerudo Valley. How Samus got hold of them, I don't know. What I do know is they don't belong in any kitchen. They're deadly poisonous!"
Sarah felt her throat tighten as she pictured Peach collapsing in the dining hall again.
Marth: Wow, that's quite interesting. Poison mushrooms…
Link: I knew it the whole time.
Roy: No, you didn't. You were catatonic the whole time!
Karanos: I did know it the whole time. Kuroi told me about that at lunch before she wrote it!
Roy: Please don't do the 'bo-ha-ha-ha' thing again.
Karanos: BO-HA-HA-HA! /arms crossed genie style/
KT – DA: Please review!