One Day at a Time
Pecking order (n): a hierarchy of status seen among members of a group of people or animals, originally as observed among hens
-from Google Search
Luigi's POV
Day 1
After the emergency meeting, things seem back to their normal state. I haven't been picked on once. Isn't that wonderful? Not even once! Douglas still has some leftover aches, which I can't complain about, and he and Fox are being super nice to me. They shower me with compliments and gifts. I know what they're up to, and it's going to take a lot more than comic books, model Arwings, F-Zero yearbooks, goodies, invites to parties and the like to make up for their little act last night. Their chests are still a bit swollen with pride, but they're the Falcon and Fox I used to know, the same ones at that game of Twister. Ness, Jiggs and I are somewhat back on speaking terms with the good Captain, who's also trying to soften Samus back up. As for Fox, he's hanging around with Kirby and Pikachu and worming his way back into the good graces of the C-tiers. Man, you should've seen me at my matches today! I can't believe I was still steaming that much, twelve or so hours after! But then again, words can hurt as hard as physical blows, and no matter how many apologies are issued, you can never forget the pain. But I'm confident we'll work things out.
Day 2
I don't believe it. I just don't believe it. One loss was all it took for it all to start back up again. And it wasn't even that big of a loss, either! Unfortunately, my opponent just so happened to be among the upper tiers, opening the floodgates to the scorn and jeering all over our Smash blog. I could hear Douglas and Fox laughing their behinds off in the stands, and I thought I glimpsed some sort of recording device. So much for their remorse yesterday! I wanted to confront them, but I figured it would make things worse, so I just ignored them and played one-on-one hoops with Ness.
Pikachu and Kirby spend all of their free time together. I think something is going on between them. They say they're just friends, but I can smell romance like the scent from a rose. When they're not gobbling up ice-cream and other sweets, then they're going on Warp Star rides and trying to get all twelve of us together to do activities. How sweet! Sam, DK, Ness, Link and I prefer to lounge around with them. They dispense the coolest advice—once you decipher the flurries of "pika"-ing and "poyo"-ing. I really like it when Mario and Yoshi join us; it's our perfect retreat from that egotistical duo.
Online, I enjoy chatting with Isai and Sir Meta Knight. Meta has explained that he was interested in participating, but he wanted to step back and see how well his student was doing on his own. He is happy but also humbled over Kirby being ranked second and offers me tips on meditation when the stress gets too much. Isai is the firecracker of the duo. Whenever he sees a trashy post about me, he rains fire and brimstone upon that user. He offers to tear the offenders to pieces, and I always talk him down. I can deal with these people; I've dealt with them for most of my life.
My next match is coming; I have to go!
Day 3
Earlier today, I was in the bathroom, tending to my business, when I felt this trickling on my right pant leg. So, I looked, and—oh, Dio, I'm seeing red just remembering it. The yellowish stream aiming at me, soaking my leg. The familiar laughter as I hightailed it out of there to change clothes. Pulling off my overalls to discover that it wasn't what I thought it was—it was lemonade. Lemonade! Okay, so first, the name calling, second, the apologies, and now pranks? What makes them think pranking me is better than calling me a loser and—that other name? I want to tell Master Hand about it, but as the old saying goes, no one likes a tattletale.
I'm not the only one, either! Ness's socks, underwear, yo-yo and bat are mysteriously misplaced, his pants are pulled down when nobody's looking, and he's subject to copious bathroom and shower pranks. They even took one of his Mr. Saturns! But Ness is no wimp. He's very good with a baseball bat and a yo-yo, if you know what I mean. In his second-to-last match for the day, he persuaded the Mr. Saturn thief to relinquish his loot. And I persuaded some of the pranksters to apologize to him.
Nobody dares try any of that mess on Sam or DK. I think Douglas tried something on Link once and wound up facing the Master Sword. So, I guess I'm the main target now. But if you mess with one C tier, you mess with all of them. Remember that.
Day 7
Wow, I can't believe a whole week has gone by. And there has been some change—for the worst! The bathroom and shower pranks are more frequent now. I have chocolate stains, mud splatters and lemonade all over my clothes by the end of the day. There are bloggers laughing about how useless I am. The spectators overlook my wins and make fun of me for being a clone. Isai and Meta still support me, and I always decompress by penning strident blog posts which will probably be treated as jokes anyway, but no matter. Master Hand's warning have been ignored, as I'm constantly heckled. There's been a lot of citation-issuing lately. Apologies are muttered with sullen faces, without meaning. They treat it like a "get out of jail free" card. One word, and poof! Everything's better. But due to the severity of their words and actions, I'm not going to let them off so easily.
Day 15
Two weeks, and no change. Why is there no change? Why is nobody listening to Master Hand? He has authority, doesn't he? I keep telling him that these ignorant fools aren't listening to them, but he's wary over using harsh methods because he doesn't want to come off as a cruel, heartless dictator, rather than a benevolent leader. I kind of understand what he's getting at, but he still should let them know that he's not joking on the matter.
I love it when I'm matched up against Falcon or Fox. I love the looks in their eyes as we face each other on the battlefield. Over the course of these two weeks, I've already given Falcon what was coming to him, most memorably at Hyrule Castle when I got him at the area with the gazebo and infinitely combed him into the next century! Oh, yeah! I feel myself cooling off a little, but the sting is still there, and I doubt it will ever go away. And then there's Fox. He's a smidge more tolerable, but I just can't stand the way he scoffs when he's taunting. Don't worry—I destroyed him in several matches, as well. And later today, I'm going to be in a free-for-all against both of them! Isn't that great? I can't imagine how much fun I'm going to have with those two! And I hope every last one of those mocking spectators attends, so they can see their illusions slowly crumble to dust right before their eyes. Stuff is about to get serious, and there is going to be pain. And blood. Mostly theirs.
I need to get ready.
Day 16
I can't sleep at night often. Either I'm wired or angry or worried—I'm usually the last to drop off. Sometimes, I invite Ness, DK, Sam, Link and Jiggs over for all-nighters. The stuff we do is enough to make me drowsy. But there are nights when I need to be by myself. Recently, I've stocked up on those practice dummies, and whenever I need a release, I pull out a dummy and a CD, and boom. Other night, I simply put on some swell beats to roll my hips to. When I dance, I say things I can't say out loud. Dancing and shimmying the night away has become such a staple that my body has gotten used to falling asleep late and waking up early. And it's something I look forward to once I'm done fighting.
Day 25
They think that just because I'm the worst, I can't beat anyone on the roster? Oh, boy. They have another thing coming. There's a nice little surprise on my blog today, my doctored-up version of the tier list. And when they see it, they'll realize there's more to me than meets the eye.
And after I simultaneously beat Falcon and Fox, too! Maybe if I vanquish Pikachu and Kirby, I'll get their attention…
Day 50
I can't look at it. I dare not look at it. The tier list, the thing that started this whole mess. Just keep walking past. Pretend it's not there. It wants to rule over me but I'm not going to let it. You see, Jiggs lent me one of her infamous black markers. It's good to have a black marker. You can do many things with a black marker.
There's less jeering now. Perhaps they're catching on. Or Master Hand has finally put his foot down. I still fill up my blog with heated posts; Falcon and Fox are still up to their shenanigans. They're just being more covert about it. But I taught myself not to yelp anymore when they pull their pranks on me. It won't be long before they get tired and abandon the whole thing. And if not, I can keep myself in until my next match, where I let everything go.
Day 75
Today wasn't my best day, I guess. More losses than wins. I don't know why—I was doing so good—
But oh, do they love it! They love seeing me stumble and fall, bruise and bleed, because that's what I'm supposed to do in their eyes. I gave each of my opponents everything I had and more, yet I still lost to some of them. I don't know if it's the stage of choice or if they suddenly grew stronger overnight. But I could sense the spectators (except my fans, of course), eating it up, cheering and laughing as I suffered one humiliating defeat after the other.
I find myself standing before the paper that started it all, fists clenched, tears streaming down my face. For 75 days I've held it all in and took more than any being could. But I keep hearing the laughter and the insults and the hating, and I feel something inside of me flipping a switch. Tears turn into almost hysterical sobs, snot runs down my nose, my body starts shuddering out of control, and a scream rips out of my throat.
And before I know it, the black marker is in my hand and I've yanked the cap off, and that stupid list is just sitting there as if mocking me along with the restand I can't bear the sight anymore, I can't look at it anymore and it's still staring at me and shamelessly reminding me how much of a blight I am AND IT MEANS TO PUT A CURSE ON ME, IT MEANS TO BURN INTO ME AND COVER ME IN ITS FOUL STENCH WHICH I CAN NEVER WASH OFF NO MATTER HOW HARD I TRY AND I'M STILL BEING THROWN UNDER THE BUS BY THOSE TWO, THEY DON'T KNOW WHEN TO FREAKING LAY OFF AND OH GOD IT'S TOO MUCH IT'S TOO MUCH I CAN'T TAKE IT ANY LONGER I CAN'T TAKE IT I CAN'T TAKE IT I CAN'T TAKE IT I CAN'T TAKE IT I CAN'T I CAN'T I CAN'T I CAN'T I CAN'T I CAN'T I CAN'T I CAN'T I CAN'T!
Last thing I remember, I'm pouncing on that infernal thing.
Day 76
That tier list will never bother me or my friends again.
Yikes, that was intense. Please leave a review.
