Super Smash Bros.: MELEE

Roy's story…

Chapter Two: Fight On!

Roy tried not to stare. There was Zelda, sitting, barely covered by a thin white robe, at the edge of a Jacuzzi tub. And staring at him with smoky, heated eyes.

"Come here," she whispered, "The water feels great."

And then, with Roy still watching every move, she stood up, slowly peeling her robe off her shoulders…sliding the thin material down her chest…-

BLING-A-LING-A-LING-A-LING!

Roy shot up in bed with a cry of "No-o-o-o!"

He took a second to recall his surroundings. He was in his customized bedroom in the mansion provided for them by whoever was running the fighting, and it was the fourth day there. With a sigh he hauled himself off the mattress and started putting on his casual wear, also provided by the owner of the housing and specially designed for him. Checking his unruly red hair in the mirror, and not being able to fix it, he opened the door into the hallway…and nearly had it slammed into his face as two small, yellow figures sped by. Pichu and Pikachu, he recalled. Over the past few days he had learned most of the other occupants' names in the building.

Shaking his head, he moseyed down to the kitchen area. Captain Falcon and Falco were down there at the table, munching on their toast and arguing about something no one else knew, nor cared, about. Their similarities in names apparently caused some confusion among the newer housemates. Which caused the two of them to try to prove they were different, resulting in many pointless arguments.

Someone else was also there, cooking her breakfast and talking with Samus, the robotic suited, one-time bounty hunter. She didn't have the suit on at the moment, revealing surprisingly pretty face and long, blonde hair. Roy's attention, however, was on the other blonde next to her. The one cooking her meal. Zelda.

She was examining Samus' blue, special suit; Samus couldn't function for long without her normal suit on so she used this one that had been designed for her to keep her fully healthy while out of battle. The robe Zelda was wearing, Roy noticed, was a lot like the one he had dreamed her in. It was slightly thicker and the patterns on it accentuated her long, delicate ears, slightly tilted, big, green eyes, light, but prominent curves…

Roy shook his head hard. Stoppit, he thought to himself, it was only a dream! With that, he grabbed a muffin and sat down in a chair, trying very hard to think of anything but her.

He was soon joined by Link in a green tunic but without the hat on. He grabbed a bagel, said hello to Zelda and sat down next to Roy.

"Did you hear the news?" he asked.

"No, what is it?"

Link grinned at him. "Today we start the trials."

The younger Link that the owners had provided popped up behind the original. "It's true," he said. "I heard it straight from the host guy!"

Roy gave him a wry smile. "Kind of like the time you heard Mr. Game and Watch was here to eat us in our sleep, eh, Young Link? Straight from the host?"

Young Link blushed slightly. He had thought that the two-dimensional…thing…person maybe…was actually an alien from outer space. Something he had heard about from Ness, the only other young boy in the building.

"This time I mean it though. I'm not the only one who's heard it. Yoshi and Mewtwo were discussing it when I was on my way down."

"Discussing what?"

Roy jumped. He hadn't noticed Zelda gliding over, breakfast in hand. She smiled at him and sat down. Roy nearly quivered with the effort it took not to stare. Those eyes were like big, green pools he could drown in happily, and—

He wanted to slap himself. Cut that out, damn you, he thought to himself. She's Link's anyway, and besides, we're only here for one thing. Focus!

He stood up. "I…I think I'm going to go warm up a bit. Have to be prepared and everything."

On the way out he nearly bumped into Mario and Luigi, the short ex-plumbers. It was strange to him to see people and things that might be slightly twisted animals walking around when they looked like they should belong in a book somewhere. The two brothers were round and rather short, although Luigi was slightly taller and thinner than Mario. Luigi also had a green shirt and hat, whereas Mario's were red.

Out in the training yard he saw Marth, the blue-haired man who had seen so familiar before. After hearing his name, Roy knew where he had recognized the name. Marth was a prince from a time before Roy's own, and Roy had read books about him and his exploits.

When he saw Roy, Marth smiled and approached. Very similar to Roy in many ways, he had on a long cape, blue like the rest of his attire that consisted of a tunic, light armor, breeches and boots, also similar to Roy. Roy's own cape had the same shade of red as his hair on the inside, the armor was slightly heavier and his pants were an off-white color.

"I'm guessing you heard the news too, huh," Marth said as he approached. "Warming up beforehand? Me too. Do you want to spar a little? I always find that's the best way to prepare."

Roy blinked, slightly startled at the non-stop flow of words, not thrown at him in a chatter he had heard from one woman there, Princess Peach who was from Mario and Luigi's world, but without enough pause to let Roy get in a word until he stopped.

"Of course, Prince Marth."

Marth chuckled. "Please, just Marth will do."

Roy smiled back. "Alright. Shall we?"

Marth nodded and the two moved out into the center of the yard, unsheathing their swords. Roy noticed that his own Sword of Seals was slightly wider, but not quite as long as Marth's. Even his 'ready' stance was similar, sword point down and facing your opponent at an angle.

"Ready?" At Roy's quick nod Marth rushed forward, sword swinging down at Roy's head.

Roy raised his own sword to parry the swing and then pivoted smoothly on one foot, slashing horizontally at Marth's side. With surprising speed, Marth held his sword point down again, only this time in front of Roy's attack, in what Roy recognized as his own 'counter' position. Preparing for what was about to come, Roy continued his attack, and when he felt steel on steel he immediately jumped into a counter of his own. A burst of flame marked his hit and smoothly he pulled his sword over his shoulder and concentrated all of his energy into it. A humming sound started and his sword started glowing.

As the humming increased pitch and the glowing became brighter, Marth had pulled himself to his feet. He almost gaped in amazement, recognizing the stance for Shield Breaker, a technique only he could use. Except instead of purple it was a white glow. Wasting no time he began to charge up his own attack.

Roy saw Marth take the same stance and with the same effect. The only problem was that Marth's attack was charging faster than his own Flare Blade. Both the glow and the hum for both swordsmen reached a maximum point and with a yell each, they unleashed their most powerful attacks.

Roy's Flare Blade created a fiery explosion and sent Marth flying considerably further than Marth's Shield Breaker would have alone. But because of the explosion, Roy received damage, too, and was sent flying almost as far.

Slowly, the two of them got up. Roy felt like he had been shaken by Donkey Kong, the large primate with a tie, and chewed up by Bowser, a large, spiky creature resembling a turtle. Though his vision was blurry, he could still see the shape of Marth climbing to his feet none too steadily. He labored to do the same, but eventually got up. Seemingly, just standing helped, as his vision cleared and his legs became sturdier.

Blue eyes met aqua. Roy and Marth held each other's gaze for a moment. Then they dashed toward each other.

As soon as they came within sword's length of each other, Roy glided into a series of techniques known as the 'Dancing Blade'. He was surprised when his sword hit Marth's, but kept moving by instinct. Each slash, stab, thrust and swing was blocked and Roy quickly realized they were both using the same move. He frowned in concentration and started changing his style from middle to high to low and a mix of all three. And each time, Marth's sword was there to counter the blow. Roy could tell he was weakening, though; Roy's arm was stronger than his blue haired adversary.

Finally, after almost 5 minutes of twisting, turning and dodging, Roy forced Marth's arm down and he stumbled back. The flame haired fighter took the chance to pull back for a full force swing.

Marth had only one option at this point. Be taken down now or try to hold out for as long as possible in defiance. He chose the second option and created a bubble-like, blue shield around himself. It was another useful feature of the strange bracelets they were given, besides translating all of the different dialects of the fighters. Roy's sword hit and the shield blurred and shrank.

Roy was slightly surprised at Marth's final attempt at recovering but didn't slow a flurry of slashes, each bringing the shield down until Marth fell back on the paving stones. Roy placed the tip of his sword at Marth's throat and placed a booted foot on his chest. Suddenly, cheers broke out around them. Roy jumped and looked around. Everyone had gathered around the Training Yard. Kirby, a pink ball with arms, feet and facial features was up on tiptoe applauding vehemently. Link gave him a thumbs' up and resumed his applause. Young Link was right next to him, pumping a fist into the air. Even Mr. Game and Watch was there, although it was hard to tell if he turned to the side. Most of all, though, Roy saw Zelda. She wasn't cheering, just standing there, smiling at him. That was what made his pride glow most. He raised his sword into the air and smiled triumphantly.

Since when do I try to show off for girls? Roy thought to himself. He still felt that ball of pride in his stomach because Zelda had smiled at him. Smiled! That was it and yet he was giddy and lightheaded. In fact, since coming here he seemed to have changed, whether for better or worse, he didn't know yet.

A voice booming through the yard cut them off short, however.

"That was great, but do you think you can do it in the arena?" Roy saw their host striding toward them. "Yeah, you're strong, but this guy here," he gestured to Marth, still picking himself up off the ground, "is easily faster. In the actual fighting your weaknesses will be exploited just as much as your strengths. Keep that in mind," he said, "and remember I'll be watching all of you." The man grinned broadly and delivered the next sentence in that booming voice again. "I'm the announcer."

"Why do we need an announcer?" a voice echoed through Roy's head.

Apparently the announcer…host…whichever he was heard it too, because the big man turned to Mewtwo. Roy blinked and stared questioningly for a second before he remembered. This…poking man or whatever they were called was psychic. He, Pikachu and Pichu and another round pink ball with pointed ears and a tuft on its head called Jigglypuff were all from the same world.

Before their host could answer, Mario piped up. "Didn't you hear him? We'll be in an arena, with a crowd watching, ah?" He spun around and posed, one leg back and two fingers up in a V, saying "It's a-me-a, Mario!" Luigi, Princess Peach and Bowser looked at each other and sighed.

The announcer looked at Mario, studying him for a moment before focusing back on everyone else.

"I almost forgot," he said with a smile. "We have one more late entry, picked by my employer himself." With that he gave a sharp whistle, and from the doorway came…Mario?

This Mario was similar in every way except instead of a hat he had a headband with a round, metal, shiny thing on it and was wearing a smock.

"This is…Doctor Mario."

"It's a-m—"

Their host snapped his fingers and the "Doctor's" voice became muffled. Because of the Link – Young link ordeal, no one was all too surprised save for Mario himself. But he never had a chance to dwell on it because the announcer smiled again.

"Now that we're all here…" He stopped and looked around, then smiled again. "Let's get ready to MELEE!"

That ends this installment. The next chapter will have the actual arena-try-to-KO-everyone-else fighting in it. R&R with any helpful hints or even just feedback in general. Yes, even the bad feedback.

S&C44