Disclaimer: I do not own SSBM or any of its affiliates, because if I did there would be a story line where you could pick your own path, which would determine who you fought, kind of like Soul Calibur except with Nintendo.
Pairings: Marth x Roy x Link triangle with some one-sided Zelda x Link, Zelda x Marth, and Peach x Marth, maybe some Samus x Roy.
Summary: Marth comes down with a bad fever… or so it seems. Could someone be trying to murder the prince of Altea? Or is it a virus gone out-of-control? It's a race against time for Roy, Link, Samus, Peach, and Zelda/Shiek to get the cure. And if they fail…
Chapter One: Doctor's Orders
"What is it?" Peach asked nervously as Dr. Mario shook his low-hung head. All of the Smashers had gathered around Marth's bed to see what was wrong with him. Even Ganandor(k)f and Bowser had managed to cram their way into the room around Marth's blood stained bed.
Just a few minutes earlier, Marth had coughed up blood and thrown up some despicable, horribly smelly substance that had been stored in a bucket and analyzed by Dr. Mario. Marth did not look well at all. He was incredibly pale, almost ghost-white, and dark circles had formed under his eyes. His usually sharp, icy, blue eyes had lost their touch and were a dull gray, and growing duller by the second. He was twitching and shaking like a leaf in a hurricane.
"I'm afraid-a that he-a has a rare-a disease, which can-a only be-a transmitted through-a the blood-a stream and is-a triggered by high amounts of iron-a and-a heat," Dr. Mario said, "I don't-a have-a the proper-a medicine to-a treat him-a."
"How did he get it?" Link demanded, "Is there a cure? If so, where is it?"
"I'm-a not-a sure where the cure-a is," Dr. Mario said, "But I've-a got a good idea of how-a he got it. When-a he was-a fighting Roy he probably-a got cut-a by-a Roy's sword. When-a he touched the steel box-a, he-a turned into iron-a, and then-a Roy released Entei. All-a of these-a things triggered-a his reaction. But my only-a wonder is-a how the virus-a got on-a Roy's sword to begin-a with."
All eyes fell on Roy.
"Why's everyone staring at me?" he asked nervously.
"R-r…"
Everyone looked at Marth, who was attempting to say something, but his tongue would not hold still for him to say it.
"What is it, Marth?" Zelda asked, "Who did this to you?"
"R-r…"
They all gasped at what finally fell out of his mouth.
"Roy."
Link whirled on Roy angrily, causing the other boy to back up.
"Why'd you do it?" he demanded, "Why would you do this to Marth? What do you have against him!"
"Marth's above him on the chart," Popo said, pulling out the carefully made chart of all of the Smashers.
"He's above all of us, but Roy's in second," Nana added, "By about three hundred KO's. That's quite a distance."
"He's first on all of the other records, too, he has all of the high scores and best times for all of the events and multi-man melees, and he has the fastest time and score for Adventure and Classic modes. And…" Popo concluded, "… Roy's second in all of those things, too, by a few hundred points."
"So that's it, is it?" Link said menacingly, "You were jealous of him being first all the time, weren't you? You didn't think that you could close that gap in the records, did you? So instead, you just thought that you'd take out your competition! You thought that you'd get away with it, too, acting like you were worried about him when you were really leaping for joy that he was dying!"
"No! I… I…"
"Can't explain yourself? That's all the explanation I need! Hold him!"
By ill chance, Roy had backed up into Donkey Kong, Bowser, and Ganondorf. They held him painfully by the arms, twisting and holding tightly, almost breaking them, while the others (Link, Samus, Captain Falcon, Ness, G&W, Young Link, Fox, Falco, Jigglypuff, Yoshi, Zelda, Pikachu, Pichu, Luigi, Mario, and Kirby) ganged up on him. It was an all-out mob fight… Roy against everyone else mentioned above.
"N-n-no!"
Everyone turned at what Marth said. The swordsman tried to get to his feet, but his legs gave out beneath him. Link and Zelda grabbed him quickly so he wouldn't fall. This didn't hinder him at all.
"Roy d-d-d-didn't d-do it!"
"Marth, he had an intention, the sword, and he could have had access to the super computer to make sure that those items appeared…" Samus said.
"I-I'll b-b-be d-d-darned i-i-i-i-if R-Roy t-t-t-takes th-the b-b-blame f-f-f-or s-s-s-s-someone e-e-else! H-he d-d-d-didn't d-do it!"
"Well-a," Dr. Mario said, "We could-a stay here and-a fight this-a out, or-a we could-a get together-a search-a party for-a the cure-a."
"But you said that you didn't know where it was," Peach said.
"No, I-a said that I wasn't-a sure where the cure-a was, but now I'm-a sure where it is-a."
"Where?" everyone asked.
"The water-a at the Fountain-a of-a Dreams should-a clear him up-a. He just-a needs to-a drink-a the water and he'll-a be back-a to his-a old self, good-a as-a new."
"So who should go? We won't all fit," Fox asked.
"I think-a it should-a be Roy, Link, Peach-a, Samus, and-a Zelda," Dr. Mario said, "They're his-a closest friends, after-a all."
"Alright," Link said, "But I'll be keeping a close eye on you, Roy."
"I'm innocent!" Roy protested.
"Yeah. Until proven guilty," Samus spat bitterly.
"Marth trusts me," Roy said confidently.
"You know, I heard somewhere that victims often defend their attackers," Zelda glared as they left the room and used the World Terminal to get to the Fountain of Dreams after grabbing a cup for the water from the kitchen.
They looked on it with horror and shock written across their faces. It looked nothing like the magical Fountain of Dreams that they were accommodated to and cherished.
The water had apparently dried up. The plants died, and the massive rings around the pillars were dim and did not spin. Even the rings in the far space were diminished. The grass was dry beneath their feet and the warm colors had become a dull gray, as had all colors of the fountain.
"What the heck happened here?" Samus exclaimed.
"If I find out that you're responsible-" Link threatened Roy, "- I'll make your life just like this fountain: a living underworld. You got that?"
"I didn't do it!" Roy shouted fiercely.
"How are we going to get the remedy for Marth now?" Peach whined, "The water's all gone!"
"Maybe not," Samus stated, "The mist at the bottom of the fountain is still there. I'd bet anything that it has the exact same healing power as the water and is keeping us up. All we need to do is find a way to get it."
"Human/Hyrulian/whatever-Roy-is chain time," Link said.
"If I become Sheik, I can probably get it with my chain," Zelda said, "So I'll be at the bottom.
"And I could use my grappling hook to support you and give you more of a reach," Link said, "So I'll be next."
"I'll have to go after that, since I can't support much weight," Peach added.
"Then me," Samus said, "I'll support Peach with my ray."
"That leaves me to hold you all up," Roy said, taking offense to what Link had said, "Good thing I'm a mamkute, or half-dragon, because otherwise I might not be strong enough to do it."
"You better not let us slip," Link growled.
"I won't. You can bet on it," Roy said angrily, grinding his teeth.
They formed the chain on the surface of the desolate fountain and slowly eased downward, one by one. Sheik had attached the cup sturdily to his chain and was using it to gather the mist. Link had his grappling hook wrapped around Sheik's waist and was holding on to his feet. Peach was doing her best to hold on to Link while Samus's ray was wrapped around her own waist to help her. Samus, being strong and in a big metal suit, was only slightly hindered by the weight. Roy was slightly struggling at the top of the fountain because he had to support all of them.
"Let go, Roy."
"W-who's there?" Roy asked. The voice was familiar, but still alien, and he could not turn his head to see the owner. Even if he could have, all he would have seen would have been a tall, cloaked figure with gleaming, icy-blue eyes. He was able to catch a glimpse of the man's dark blue cloak.
"That does not matter. Just let go."
"No!"
"Roy, who are you talking to?" Samus called up, "Quit freaking me out and concentrate on holding us up! You slipped once already!"
"Right," Roy said, "Sorry." That was weird, he thought to himself. All was silent while Sheik gathered the mist from the fountain, which, when enough was gathered, filled the cup to half-full with water.
"LET GO!"
Something strong and hard struck Roy's arms, and the mamkute boy yelped, but did not let go.
"Roy, what's going on up there?" Link yelled.
"Someone's trying to kill us!" Roy exclaimed, "Not me- some guy in a cloak!"
"My sensors don't detect anyone here but us, Roy. That's just perfect," Samus groaned, "Now he's insane. Yet another motive to kill Marth."
"I'm not crazy, and I'm not trying to kill Marth!" Roy yelled. And of course, with all this yelling, aside from Peach getting quite a headache, Roy was losing his focus and let the others slip three times. A powerful shove from an unknown force knocked him off of the ledge, and the five (six counting both Zelda and Sheik) fell.
"Ugn... Where are we ?" Peach mumbled.
"I'm not sure," Sheik, who had turned back to Zelda, groaned, "My leg... I think its broken..."
"Samus, any idea where we are?" Link asked, brushing dirt off of his tunic as he went to check Zelda's leg.
"All scanners say that we are in the SSBM Mansion, but no part of it that I've ever seen... wait, could it be...?"
"I hope not," Link said.
"What? What could it be?" Roy asked.
"None of your business, traitor!" Link spat, "You let us fall! You tried to kill us and almost ended up killing yourself!"
"I didn- aah!" Roy grabbed his arm, which he'd raised in protest. He could see that it was twisted at an odd angle, and that it was most likely broken.
"Ha, ha, serves you right," Peach found herself saying. It wasn't like her, but under the circumstances, none of them were acting like themselves, "Now, what is it that's so supposedly bad about this place, if we're really there?"
"You three don't know about it because you aren't original Smashers," Samus said, "But a few years ago, back in the days of the original eight, there was rumored to be a terrible, horrible place beneath the mansion. It was the place where souls of Smashers went before they were revived. There were a few Smashers that never got revived, though, like the Fighting Polygons and the Wire Frames. But they could be manufactured in mass numbers, and they were just shadows of the real Smashers without personalities, so no one really cared."
"So what?" Zelda asked, "Careful, Link, that hurts! What's so bad about a few spirits?"
"You mean a few thousand," Link continued, "Over time, they began to grow angry with the Smashers because they were never trapped; they always came back and were never in this place- the Dead Zone- for more than a few seconds. They're deadly- and we're stuck here with them now because no one knows that we need to be revived."
"We're dead?" Roy gasped, "DEAD?"
"Unless we survived falling through space, yes," Peach said, "Oh, this is horrible!"
"And it's all your fault!" Samus screeched at Roy, "Your fault, your fault, your fault! It was you; you condemned us to this miserable world because you were seeing and hearing things!"
"No! I'm not insane- someone pushed me off!" Roy tried to explain, half crying, "Why don't you guys believe me?"
"Why should we believe you?" Zelda demanded.
"Because I'm your friend," Roy said softly, "And that's what friends do, right? They stick together, even through the rough times, and no matter what they always stand by each other. You guys know I didn't poison Marth, and he knows it, too. He wants us to catch the one responsible, and maybe this is all a part of that."
"How, Roy?" Link asked, "How can being sent to the underworld help us find Marth's attacker?"
"Maybe she or he's here," Samus realized, "Maybe someone pushed us off so we'd come to this place and bring whoever it is to justice."
"Exactly!" Roy said, "We just need to look until we find that person!"
"But I can't go anywhere," Zelda said, "And you're arm is broken, Roy, you can't wield the Sword of Seals."
"I... uh, well, I didn't bring the Sword of Seals," Roy blushed, "I left it in my room."
"One less thing to worry about, then," Link said, "I'll go scouting. Samus, would you stay here and guard Zelda and Roy until we- Peach and I- can find a way out of here?"
"Of course," Samus nodded as well as she could in her suit.
"No way!" Roy said, "I want to go, too!"
"Shut up, Roy," Peach commanded, "You're staying here."
Roy would have pouted, but he didn't want to risk damaging his arm further. He sat down quietly next to Zelda and settled for glaring instead.
"If we don't come back, don't look for us," Link said.
"Yes, sir," Samus said, saluting him, "I'll guard them with my life."
"I expect nothing less," Link said. Then, sword drawn and bomb-ready, he left, with Peach wielding a golf club and frying pan at his side.
"Link..." Zelda said quietly.
"I hope Marth's okay," Roy sighed, "Dr. Mario will take good care of him, won't he?"
"I'm sure he will," Samus said calmly, "Now we can only wait and see what happens."
Despite her previous outbursts, Samus was the 'mother' of the group: responsible, protective, and caring. She'd always played Mom to Link, Zelda, Roy, and Marth. After all, they were just kids, and she was a full-grown adult.
Back at the SSBM Mansion above-ground...
A cloaked man holding the Sword of Seals approached Marth, who was sleeping at the time.
"Roy may not have been strong enough to get all the virus into your bloodstream, but with you like this, I most certainly am," the cloaked man said, grinning under his hood.
Marth blinked himself into consciousness. He tried to scream, but his voice was gone, stuck in his throat somewhere. The cloaked man raised the sword, its tip dripping venom onto Marth's arm. He was too weak to pull away, run, or fight. He knew that there was no escaping the man. He was going to die...
Whew! That took a while to write. Thank you to all the reviewers- I love y'all!
To all- I shower you with Pokeballs containing your favorite Pokemon! Also, in honor of Thanksgiving (which is about the time I finished this chapter), you all get an individual pie that is your favorite kind that is specialized and says on the top:
Thank you, (reviewers name)!
Love you all! It might take a while for me to get out the next chapter because of school and about a dozen other stories that people are hounding me for (a few aren't published yet, and my family is hounding me), but I will get it written eventually. Thanks to all and Happy Thanksgiving!