Hello all. So, I said I would take a break and posted a really stupid and small story kinda explaining why… like I said, it was stupid. I left for maybe a week max. Anyway, in the meantime, I have been rewriting this chapter from what I had previously. Too many distractions. So, we'll pick up quickly after the last chapter left off, have a quick dinner scene, then explore the town. Sound good? Alright, cool. Also, the story is now M due to stoner Dark Pit. Let the high-jinx ensue… I'll leave now, enjoy!
Venturing Into the Unknown
Staring at the underbrush warily in case anything else was to come out of it, Ender stood up and brushed off his pants. He looked left and right before beginning to walk back to his dorm. He didn't know what to do other than that. His mind and body already felt wearied down as if he hadn't slept for a month.
0-0-0-0-0
The door clicked open, alerting Meta Knight and Sora, who were in an intense game of Battleship, to his arrival.
"Hey… Eric?" Sora asked.
"Ender," he responded.
"Right, right, sorry," Sora said.
"Nah, it's fine, it's a weird name," Ender replied. He sat down cross-legged beside their "computers" and looked at both boards.
"So, Sora, looks like Meta Knight's kicking your ass," Ender said bluntly.
"IT'S A GAME OF LUCK AND HE SEEMS TO HAVE FATE ON HIS SIDE, ALRIGHT!?" Sora screeched.
"Hehe, I'm screwing with ya. Good luck though," Ender said before standing back up.
"So, what did you do while you were gone?" Meta Knight asked, his eyes surveying the board.
"Oh, just exploring. Actually, scratch that, I killed a wolf," Ender said.
"WHAT!?" Sora yelled.
"You don't really just offhandedly and casually mention that!" Meta Knight said.
"My question is how?" Sora asked.
"… Don't know… something to do with my powers," Ender answered, looking at the ground confused.
"You get powers?" Sora asked.
"All of the kids in this school have some kind of magical weapon or powers or something. Guess I just got lucky," Ender said. At that moment, the door clicked and slammed open. Dark Pit stormed in and jumped on his top bunk.
"What's got you all fired up?" Sora asked.
"Those dumbasses, Roy and Marth, they kicked my ass in Ultimate Battlers Omega," Dark Pit answered.
"Okay, so…?" Ender trailed off.
"I don't like to lose, okay!?" Dark Pit yelled. He reached into his pillow and pulled out a small bag of white stuff.
"AH, AH, AH, AH!" Sora screamed before standing up and snatching up the bag.
"Hey, I paid a lot of money for that!" Dark Pit yelled.
"And I don't want our room to smell like weed!" Sora yelled back.
"It's my weed, you can't take it!" Dark Pit yelled.
"You do realize weed is dangerous, right?" Meta Knight asked.
"Time to cue up Adam Ruins Everything," Ender muttered.
"Wait, what?" Meta Knight asked.
"What if a teacher came in to check on our dorm!? It'd smell like weed and we'd all get into trouble!" Sora yelled.
"Can't we just rat him out?" Ender asked.
"Fuck you!" Dark Pit yelled at Ender.
"Just throw it out the window," Meta Knight said.
"No, that'll just make things worse," Sora said.
"I say we burn it," Eder said.
"Y'know what, fuck it," Dark Pit said before lunging off his bed at Ender. Ender, in a panic, sidestepped, right into Sora and Meta Knight's game.
"HEY!" Sora yelled.
"It was a losing battle for you anyway," Ender said. Dark Pit spun around and lunged yet again at Ender, who rolled backwards, letting Dark Pit fly over him. Jumping up with his hands, Ender landed on his feet.
"Why me!?" He asked Dark Pit.
"Honestly, you were the closest one," Dark Pit replied before lunging again. This time, Sora stepped in and put out both his hands to stop Dark Pit from attacking and Ender from retaliating.
"Here, how about this," Sora began. "Dark Pit, you can smoke weed, but if a teacher catches you or inspects our room and smells it, you will have no help from us," Sora said.
"I second those terms," Ender said.
"You're a dick, y'know that?" Dark Pit asked Ender.
"We're going to be wonderful friends," Ender retorted.
"All right, let's all relax. I, regrettably, third those terms," Meta Knight said. All six eyes leveled on Dark Pit as they waited for his answer. After a pregnant pause of thinking he finally sighed.
"Alright fine," he said.
"There, now was that so hard?" Sora said as he handed the weed back to Dark Pit. Dark Pit hopped back onto his bed and took out a small stack of paper. Taking one from the top, he rolled it into a blunt and lit it with a lighter he had.
"I still think it's dangerous for people to smoke weed," Meta Knight, a small bit of worried laced into his voice.
"Here, watch this," Ender said before tossing his phone to Meta Knight. Meta Knight's eyes watched the screen intensely as the little jingle played before the Adam Ruins Weed video began to play. In the meantime, Ender flopped onto his bed and took out his tablet. There wasn't much on it for him to do, other than checking out his powers and the group chats. Deciding he had nothing better to lose, he opened the SOCIAL tab, where he was prompted with a username box.
"I fucking hate it when you have to put in usernames," he muttered to himself. Putting in the first one that came to mind, he ended up with the name Avatar. Why the hell not. After he got through that hell, he got to choose another. Chat group C actually had the most people, so he joined that one.
Avatar has joined the chat
Daisy Destructor: Ender! What the hell is your username!
Ass-Fruit: Wait, how'd you guess it was him?
Avatar: Was it because of the joke you made earlier?
Daisy Destructor: Yes, yes it was.
Avatar: Wait, but who's Ass-Fruit then?
Daisy Destructor: … Peach.
Avatar: … Regrettably that makes sense.
Ass-Fruit: It was the first thing that came to mind!
Hero-King: Not something very fit for royalty.
Ass-Fruit: MARTH!
Avatar: Wait, who? Oh, wait; you were the one who kicked Dark Pit's ass!
Hero-King: Is that the angel's name? He seemed very angry.
Avatar: He was a very angry boi
OurBoi: Boi is trademarked by me, Roy, sorry sir, you've been sued.
Avatar: You can't sue me I'm thirteen and lived with a mother who worked 12-9 with a deadbeat boyfriend who did nothing but play Poker.
Daisy Destructor: Uh, TMI? Am I the only one who thinks so?
Ass-Fruit: Yeah, yeah it was.
OurBoi: Yeah so, how much can I sue you for?
Avatar: FUCK YOU!
OurBoi: Very harsh words to someone you just met over group chatting.
Avatar: … Fair, sorry.
OurBoi: Wow, didn't expect an actual apology.
Hero-King: These group chats are just Discord.
Avatar: It's been a day, have you just been on Discord and Group Chats all the day?
Knot Yu: This is KNOT on the level of our Discord server.
Avatar: Who the hell are you?
Ass-Fruit: Why didn't your name show up in the Person has arrived message?
14Shiffna: Knot? The hell are you doing here, get out!
Knot Yu has been kicked from the server
14Shiffna has been kicked from the server
Daisy Destructor: The hell was that.
Avatar: I think I'm at the point where nothing surprises me anymore.
Ass-Fruit: That's a lie!
Avatar: Yeah, it is.
Hero-King: So, Peach, what were you saying about exploring that town you saw on the way in?
Avatar: Wait, you guys are going exploring?
Ass-Fruit: YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
Avatar: Can I come?
White-Petal: Yeah sure.
Avatar: Yay! I've been invited to something!
White-Petal: Are you trying to act childish as a joke?
Avatar: Yee.
Avatar left the chat
Ender pressed the power button on his tablet and threw it under his bed. He looked to Meta Knight, who seemed to be on his third Adam Ruins Everything video.
"You… almost done there?" Ender asked.
"Ah, yes, apologies… I forgot myself. That man is very entertaining," Meta Knight said as he handed Ender back his phone.
"It's no problem," Ender said before sticking his phone in the charger behind his bed. Ender laid down on his bed as the room lapsed into an awkward silence, Sora staring disgustedly at Dark Pit, Ender staring upwards at Dark Pit's bunk above him and Meta Knight… asleep, in his cloak. In the middle of the floor. Soft snoring emanated from him as the other three just stared at him.
"Yeah… I'm just going to nap too," Ender said as he turned his back to Meta Knight and Sora.
0-0-0-0-0
"So uh, how do we wake him up?" Sora asked.
"I don't particularly want to. He looks so… peaceful," Meta Knight said.
"I got an idea," Dark Pit devilishly smirked and raised his hand to slap Ender across the face. Sora grabbed his arm and pushed him back.
"No! It's day one, why do you have to be a dick?" He asked.
"It's literally just my character trait," Dark Pit answered.
"I say we just let him sleep. He'll wake up when he wakes up," Meta Knight suggested.
"Alright," Sora said.
"Ugh, fine," Dark Pit groaned.
"Alright. Then let's go to dinner," Sora said before turning around and walking out the door, followed by Meta Knight and Dark Pit. While Meta Knight was distracted though, Dark Pit ran back and slapped Ender across the face really hard. Ender woke up in an instant and rolled off his bed while Dark Pit began rolling around on the floor.
"Oh, oh man, oh that was hilarious!" Dark Pit laughed, wiping tears from his eyes.
"You asshole!" Ender yelled before running after Dark Pit. Dark Pit got up and sprinted out the door with Ender fast on his heels. Dark Pit leaped down the stairs three at a time, barreling right past Sora and Meta Knight with a quick, "Out of the way!"
"Get back here motherfucker!" Ender yelled as he passed Sora and Meta Knight.
"LANGUAGE!" Sora yelled at Ender.
"Is now really the time to be saying that?" Meta Knight asked as his cape turned into some wings that he unfurled.
"YOU CAN FLY!?" Sora screeched.
"Yes. And no, I can't carry you," Meta Knight said before he hopped off the stairs after Ender and Dark Pit.
"Man, am I the only one who can't fly?" Sora asked before dejectedly walking down the stairs.
0-0-0-0-0
Dark Pit rushed outside and hid behind the fountain in the middle right before Ender came rushing outside. The sun was beginning to set, making the trees dark. Eerie lights glowed in different places, allowing sight in the dark. Ender looked around wildly as he searched for Dark Pit. But, unbeknownst to him, it was beginning to get darker. Slowly though, he noticed. He also began to notice students and the buildings and trees disappearing suddenly from his view. And before he knew what was going on, his vision itself went dark.
0-0-0-0-0
He woke up in what sounded a cave. His hands felt the rough stone below and the dripping of water from somewhere. Yup, definitely a cave. Ender sat up slowly, his head ringing. He stood up and balanced himself on a stalagmite. His eyes slowly adjusted to the eerie dim light emanating from down the corridor. Deciding that to be the best place to go, He slowly and quietly began to stride towards it. Slowly, he began to make out voices coming from the light.
"Where is he Ganondorf? You promised him to me, as well as his sibling!" A raspy, yet intelligent voice hissed from down the hall, quickly followed by a sharp response from another, colder voice.
"He's here, I assure you of that! In fact, here he is now," Both figures turned towards the entrance of the room as Ender stepped into the blinding light.
"Ahahaha! But wait… what of the other one?" The large dragon that had the raspy voice slithered.
"My magic was not strong enough to bring two students here. This one will have to do for now," the large figure, presumably the Ganondorf character, responded.
"Well fine then. Well, you are now face to face with your greatest enemy, Ender Aran. Now prepare to die, by the hands of the Cunning God of Death, Ridley!" Ridley proclaimed, raising a claw into the air as he gave his small villainous speech.
"Do you have to be so dramatic?" Ganondorf asked Ridley.
"No," Ridley answered.
"So are we gonna drag this out or are you gonna kill him?" Ganondorf asked.
"I'll just kill him I guess. He probably won't really put up much of a fight," Ridley answered. Meanwhile, Ender had fallen backward and was scooting himself away from the duo. All three names, his, Ridley's, and Ganondorf's stirred something in him. Some sort of remembrance. In a quick flash, he saw himself in deep space, watching a holo-screen play a match between a large purple dragon and an orange haired, green skinned, humanoid. The flashback was quick and gone in an instant and he found himself pushed up against a wall.
"Ha, you really think I'd let you out of here? You're a very powerful child… it'd be better for our cause to kill you now," Ganondorf said. Ender's blood ran cold as both villains smirked. Ridley screeched and rushed forward, a barbed tail whipping out behind him. Ridley's tail dashed forward like a snake striking, right at Ender, who clenched his teeth and eyes shut waiting for the stab… which never came. A large ring of metal glancing off stone came instead of the tail going straight inside flesh. Ender slowly opened his eyes.
"What?" Ridley asked. Ridley proceeded to tear into Ender with everything he had, teeth, claws, tails, and fire. Nothing left as much as a scratch on him. In fact, it all passed through him as if he were a ghost.
"GANONDOOOOOOOOOORF! WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS!?" Ridley screeched, whirling around on his partner.
"It would appear something from the campus is protecting him… Master Hand's magic is overpowering my own. It's a spell that enables this boy to become a ghost," Ganondorf theorized, his hand placed on his chin in deep thought.
"I THOUGHT YOU SAID THIS WOULDN'T HAPPEN!?" Ridley screeched yet again, rushing forward on his partner with a claw extended, black fire pouring from it. Ganondorf grabbed the claw and put out the fire with his hand, showing no discomfort.
"If you harm me, it means you have turned your back on the Alliance. You'll be a hero," Ganondorf stated bluntly. Ridley snatched his claw away from Ganondorf with a snarl before whirling back upon Ender. Bending down real low so that they could look eye to eye, Ridley hissed.
"This is not over young Aran. I will finally kill you and your pesky sister once and for all. Today though, is not that day," Ridley said. Ender could barely breathe by now and promptly passed out.
0-0-0-0-0
"What should we do Master Hand? I saw his memories; he was in Ganondorf's domain," Palutena said, standing in the infirmary with Master Hand beside Ender's bed.
"It seems I will have to bargain with Shiffna yet again," The large Hand, albeit in human form, sighed.
"BARGAIN WITH THAT MADMAN!? AGAIN!? ARE YOU OUT OF YOU'RE… HAND!?" Palutena screeched.
"Lady Palutena, I'm sure you know there is a very distinct and large line between madmen and sadists," a voice relayed from the shadows. Stepping from them, the black sweatshirt boy emerged into the light. Palutena noticeably clammed up when Shiffna revealed himself. "Sadists like to have fun at their friend's expenses. Madmen, on the other hand, are reckless and foolish people," Shiffna finished.
"Shiffna, since I have you here, why?" Master Hand asked.
"Why what?" Shiffna asked.
"Reveal the main bad guys so early into the story?" Master Hand asked.
"What, you really thought I'd let this go on for a thousand chapters? I don't have the attention span for that. My max is 200, my, hopefully, minimum is 100," Shiffna explained.
"But don't you think the pacing of the story is a bit… fast?" Palutena asked.
"Maybe so, but I'm an amateur writer and I'm working on it. Hopefully by the second installment my writing will have improved drastically," Shiffna said. "Now, next order of business. We three in this room are the only ones who know that you two are video game characters. But, there's about to be four of us. So next time we talk about stuff like this, we're gonna talk about it at my place, understood?" Shiffna asked. Getting a confirming nod from the other two, Shiffna smiled and walked over to the barely beginning to wake up Ender. Putting his hand in front of his face, he flicked his forehead, putting Ender to sleep. "There. That'll put him out until tomorrow and he won't remember any of this. As soon as I leave this room, the cameras will be given false recordings. This conversation was risky, but other than that, I'll talk to you two later," Shiffna snapped and opened a dark purple portal and stepped through. The portal evaporated, and only Palutena, Master Hand, and the sleeping Ender were left in the room.
0-0-0-0-0
Ender woke up to the sound of a keyboard click-clacking away and the sun streaming in through the window. Ender sat up with relative ease, although as soon as he sat up, he felt a pounding headache.
"Oh, you're awake," a feminine voice with a hint of an accent drew Ender's attention. Presumably, it was the school nurse, albeit her garb was a little… strange, compared to a lot of other people here. While she did have on a white doctor's coat, below that, she had a metal suit of some kind, as well as metallic wings sticking out from behind her. She also had a halo around her head. The nurse saw him staring and chuckled.
"I guess you're confused about the clothing choice. My name's Mrs. Ziegler, but you can call me Mercy. That's my codename," Mercy winked and smiled before turning back to her computer.
"You are, Ender Aran, correct?" Mercy asked. Ender nodded slowly. "Well, you're all good. You can head to breakfast. You have about 45 minutes left," Mercy said before striding over and holding open the door for Ender.
"Uh, thanks, but where is the cafeteria?" Ender asked.
"Oh, that Master Hand fellow, he added a new feature, it's a map. It shows you a full map of the campus, a map of the school, the dorms, and the path into the woods," Ender had pulled out his tablet and had selected the new MAP tab. After studying the one for the school a moment, he looked back to Mercy and smiled.
"Okay. Thank you Mercy," Ender walked out the door and followed the map.
"Now you be careful. That headache should go away in a few hours!" Mercy called after him.
"Okay, thanks!" Ender called back.
0-0-0-0-0
After three wrong turns, Ender finally made it to the cafeteria after about ten minutes. There was one door that leads into the very large cafeteria, and it was the entrance for the buffet line. Ender steadied himself, seeing as he could already hear the cafeteria from outside. Taking a deep breath, he pushed through the door and was confronted with a thousand aromas, some amazing, some disgusting to him, and he was confronted with a cafeteria split into two, one half for the cafeteria, the other for the buffet. The noise was tremendous. Ender thought that the lifespan of his headache just increased by two days. Ender grimaced and grabbed a tray, taking a pancake and egg. When he stepped by the checkout line, he was confronted with thousands upon thousands of drinks, some he knew, most looked… otherworldly. Deciding to stay true to Earth, he grabbed a bottle of apple juice. He stepped through the checkout line and was immediately confronted with another problem beside the noise. Where to sit? Ender scanned the room like a hawk, looking for someone, anyone, he knew. Finally, he saw Link, Zelda, and the others. He breathed a sigh of relief and began to go to their table. When he got there, he caught everyone by surprise.
"Ender? Where have you been?" Zelda asked.
"And more importantly, are you alright?" Peach asked.
"Yeah, that fall yesterday was hilarious!" Daisy said before she began cracking up, being stopped by Peach slapping her on the arm. "Oh, yeah, sorry, are you okay Ender?" Daisy asked half-assedly.
"Yeah. I don't even remember much. Just remember passing out and waking up in the nurse's office," Ender lied.
"Well don't keep standing there, you can sit down y'know?" Peach said.
"Oh, yeah, right," Ender said sheepishly, sitting down in the booth next to Link, who nodded to him and returned to his phone.
"Considering the circumstances, did you see anything while you were passed out?" Peach asked.
"What? U-uhm, n-no," Ender lied yet again.
"You're a very bad liar, y'know?" Daisy asked.
"Fine. Well, I honestly don't know if I should tell you guys this, but here goes," Ender proceeded to lower his voice so as not to attract the attention of other students. "I guess I was kind of… transported somewhere? I don't really know. But I was transported there by this dragon named Ridley and some guy named Ganondorf," Link's eyes flicked up and focused on Ender and Zelda's eyes widened slightly upon hearing Ganondorf's name. "Apparently, Ridley has some sort of… personal vendetta against me and… my sister, I guess. Anyway, Ganondorf was trying to bring me there fully, so that Ridley could kill me. Apparently the plan was to get both me and my sister, but Master Hand's magic didn't allow him to do that. So, I was the best he could do. But, Master Hand's magic apparently made it so that I was like a ghost. Nothing Ridley did hurt me. I think… I think something big's going to go down this school year, and it's not just learning how to manage our powers," Ender finished, allowing everyone to take a breath.
"Wow. Like just, wow. There is no fucking thing on Earth to say to that. Like we are fucking screwed," Daisy said.
"Daisy! Stop cursing so much!" Peach chastised.
"Well, I'm sorry that it's one of my defining character traits, little Mrs. Perfect!" Daisy said.
"Hey, I am not little Mrs. Perfect!" Peach said.
"Well you're sure acting like it right now!" Daisy retorted. As Ender, Zelda, and Link watched on, three sweat drops formed on their upper right/left forehead.
Those two have some short tempers, all three of them thought. As Peach and Daisy continued to bicker in the background, Zelda, Link, and Ender turned back to each other.
"So… you said Ganondorf… helped this Ridley guy… try killing you?" Zelda asked.
"Yeah," Ender confirmed.
"That doesn't sound like Ganondorf," Link muttered.
"Granted, yes, but you heard Master Hand, the greatest villains ever have united under a single banner," Zelda said.
"You two have… history with this Ganondorf?" Ender asked. Link and Zelda stared at each other a moment before nodding.
"You mind filling me in? He almost killed me after all," Ender asked.
"Yeah, yeah, we can fill you in. It's a bit of story and it's somewhat confusing, so strap in. *ahem* Anyway, there is an ancient prophecy told by the Three Goddesses of Hyrule. A wielder of the Tri-Force of Power, that being Ganondorf (and there's only one), will kidnap the wielder of the Tri-Force of Wisdom, me, or one of my ancestors or predecessors. I and Link are the latest reincarnations of the Hero and Princess. Anyway, the Hero will appear and go on a series of trials to claim the Master Sword, and become worthy of the Tri-Force of Courage. Then, the Hero will kill Ganondorf, and save the Princess, delivering Hyrule from ruin," Zelda finished her quick and not as confusing as she thought it would be story and both her and Link stared at Ender.
"That wasn't as confusing as I thought it would be, it was actually really easy to follow and I get the gist of it now," Ender said.
"Hm, yeah I guess I didn't go too deep into the history of Hyrule," Zelda admitted. Link nodded at her. Zelda turned back to Peach and Daisy, who were still bickering.
"Hey. Hey… you two… hey!" Zelda caught both their attention simply by sounding angry, and they both turned to look at her.
"Since, we're done talking, how about you two stop bickering?" Zelda asked. Ender turned to Link.
"Does that count as a roast?" Ender whispered. Link shrugged. "I don't think it does," Ender whispered before they both turned their attention back to the girls.
"So, when did you say we were going into town?" Zelda asked the girls.
"Right after breakfast," Peach responded.
"Seriously, we're gonna leave here and go straight to town?" Daisy asked.
"Okay, maybe not directly after. We still need to pick up Roy and Marth," Peach said.
"Ah, yes, those two. Not gonna lie, they sound like royal snobs," Ender said. "Well, Roy sounds a little fun, but not Marth," Ender reevaluated.
"Hey! They're both fun! Dick," Peach muttered the last part to herself.
"Alright, fine, I'll stop badmouthing them, sorry," Ender said, finally taking a bite of his egg. Right as he did though, the bell rang.
"… you've gotta be kidding me," Ender sighed.
"Oof," Daisy offered.
"Shut up," Ender muttered before standing up to throw away his tray.
"I'll meet you guys in the common area," Ender said before turning back around and continuing to the trash can. Ender threw away his tray and turned to walk out the door before he noticed some more had magically appeared.
"Uhhhhhh, I don't think those were there before I came in," Ender pointed out.
"They weren't," said a whiny sounding voice from beside Ender. Ender jumped about a foot away before he got a good look at the girl. It was the girl from the day before, the one who had showed up randomly and commented on how humans were destroying Earth.
"Oh, hey, I remember you. We had a kind of one-sided conversation the yesterday. I'm Ender," Ender held out a hand with a small smile. The girl looked at it in disgust, shuddered, and walked away. Ender's eyes followed her curiously. Why the hell did I do that again? He asked himself. Because you want to be popular, his inner conscious answered. Well that's fair, Ender thought back. Ender, deciding he didn't want to confront the girl again, turned and went the opposite way she had, through a door on the other side of the cafeteria. Opening his tablet, he opened the MAP tab and studied the school map yet again. After ten intense minutes, Ender took a left and proceeded down the hall, following the crowd.
0-0-0-0-0
Ten minutes later, Ender reentered the dormitory. Peach, Zelda, Daisy, Link, and the two kids who Ender assumed were Marth and Roy, stood in a corner. Their eyes locked onto Ender as soon as he entered the room, as if they were expecting him. Ender walked over kind of cautiously. He thought he saw a glint of annoyance in everyone but Zelda's eyes.
"Hi?" Ender said.
"Where have you been? We've been waiting on you for forever now," Daisy whined.
"Uh, it's been about ten minutes? I don't understand why you have to be so whiny," Ender said.
"He's right Daisy, let it go, you're just impatient," Zelda said.
"Thank you," Ender said.
"So, everyone ready to go?" Zelda asked to varying degrees of yes. "Okay, let's go!" Zelda said before jogging out the door.
"Why do we have to jog?" Ender asked. Link shrugged. Ender and Link followed Zelda out the door, followed by Daisy and Roy, with Marth and Peach bringing up the rear.
0-0-0-0-0
The walk was about twenty minutes. They would soon find that that walk had not been worth it for the trouble they were in for. Everything started out normal. The path to the town was heavily wooded, so that kept Daisy, Peach, and Ender on edge, but other than that, it was very peaceful. They emerged from the woods right next to some houses, a grocery store, and a hardware store. The dirt road turned sharply to the right, leading to a scrap yard at the end of the road. The road also continued straight ahead, leading to a break in the buildings where a dirt road crept into the forest. At the end of the road, a house stood, and on the left side, two more houses and what looked like a diner.
"Okay, so we're not going to be able to explore the whole thing as a group… I say we split up," Zelda suggested.
"Are you crazy!? That's how people always die in horror movies!" Daisy mock exclaimed. Zelda however, wasn't buying it.
"It's broad daylight," she said.
"I was joking," Daisy deadpanned.
"Alright, whatever," Zelda said. "Anyway, I'll go with Link, Marth and Roy can go together-" Zelda was cut off by Peach's whining.
"But I wanna go with Marth," she said. Ender leaned over to Link and whispered.
"Wow she's desperate," Link nodded.
"Alright fine, Marth and Peach can go together," Zelda rolled her eyes. "Roy and Daisy can go together and Ender can go by himself… actually, you can go with Roy and Daisy, why not?" Zelda said.
"Whew, I did not want to be alone around here," Ender muttered to himself.
"Alright, I and Link will go this way with Peach and Marth. Daisy, Roy, Ender, you guys go that way," Zelda pointed her thumb behind her towards the dead end.
"Alright, sounds good," Ender said.
"Okay, get back here in a half an hour," Zelda said. Peach, Marth, Link and Zelda turned around and starting walking away towards the scrapyard part of town. Ender, Roy, and Daisy turned back towards the dead end.
"Man, why'd we get the dead end?" Daisy whined.
"Eh, I dunno," Roy shrugged before walking away.
"Might as well just check everything out," Ender said, following Roy. There wasn't much to see in the dead end part of town and they didn't feel like trespassing on people's properties to get to the other side of town. There was a diner at the end of the road called Greasy's Diner.
"Yeah, we're not checking that out," Roy said.
"We don't even have the time," Ender said.
"Alright, well this was pointless," Daisy said.
"Well, there's still that path into the woods," Ender suggested.
"Yeah, we're exploring anyway," Roy said. "How about we race?" He asked.
"You're on," Ender said.
"I can't run in a dress!" Daisy whined.
"Just jog. We'll meet you at the location at the end of the path," Ender said.
"Ready?" Roy asked. Ender nodded, settling into a running stance. "GO!" Roy yelled, and both boys took off, leaving Daisy behind, shocked.
"Dickheads," she muttered before beginning to walk to catch up.
0-0-0-0-0
Daisy came upon Ender and Roy sprawled on the ground huffing.
"So, who won?" She asked.
"Me," Both boys answered at the same time.
"Well, before you two start bickering, let's call it a tie," Daisy said. She proceeded to flick them both in the forehead and told them to get moving into the large cabin. The cabin had a bunch of signs pointing to it with a bunch very fake looking things. Roy pulled open the door and was confronted with a sight. Thousands upon thousands of fake things. The trio split up and moved through the store. Ender browsed the items near the front desk.
"Man, are all of these fake?" He muttered to himself.
"They are," two faces answered him from behind. Ender spun around and saw two teenagers, one a short kid sitting on the counter with a tattered book open. He had brown hair with a blue sleeveless jacket with an orange shirt underneath. He had a blue and white hat with a pine tree on it and he was intensely focused on the book. The second voice belonged to a tall red head girl. She had a flannel shirt on and a hat with floppy ears. She was on her phone behind the counter. She glanced up at Ender and noticed him and she raised a brow.
"You're new here… where are you from?" She asked.
"Pennsylvania," Ender replied bluntly. Both the boy and girl's jaws dropped at this.
"What prompted you to move to deadbeat town on the other side of the country?" The boy asked.
"… I got an invitation to a prestigious school and… this is where it was located," Ender shrugged with his hands in his pockets.
"Oh, is that the new development down the road?" The girl asked.
"Yup," Ender responded.
"Well, that's cool. By the way, my name's-"
"WENDY! Who are you talking to!? It better not interfere with work!" A grumbly and hoarse voice yelled from the back.
"Just a curious customer Mr. Stan!" Wendy called back. "Sorry, that's my boss," Wendy apologized. Ender put up a hand as if to say 'I don't care, it's a boss'. On cue though, a man in a full suit with an eye patch and a hat with a fish on came from the back.
"Curious customers you say? Ooh and they is an outsider! Why didn't you say so earlier Wendy?" The old man asked. Ender leveled a curious eye on the man. Considering everything else in this store was fake, so was that eye patch probably. Ender shrugged it off.
"So, what are you looking for? Strange memorabilia from the strangest town in the United States? Or how about a tour of our strangest artifacts, like the giant's ear or the thigh clops!" The man had a flair for theatrics, but Ender just scoffed.
"What? You don't believe in any of this stuff? Well, you can get a cool comic for just twenty bucks!" The old man pulled out a hand drawn and hand written comic called 'Lil' Stanley'. Ender chuckled a little.
"Sorry, sir, I really don't have the time. But just so you know, I think in the past day I've seen stranger things than anything in here," Ender said. He spun on his heel and walked to the door, where Daisy and Roy were standing.
"You guys ready to go? This guy's a rip-off," Ender said, jerking his thumb to the old man.
"Hey, you little brat, I am not a rip-off!" The old man yelled.
"… You're right. You're a conman," Ender smirked. All three turned back to the door to leave, right before it burst open. Marth and Peach slammed the door shut to a lot of banging and yelling. Link and Zelda helped Roy, Daisy, and Ender up.
"What the hell happened!?" Daisy asked. Marth gritted his teeth against the bumping of the apparent mob outside as he tried to explain.
"Zelda accidentally used a bit of her magic and destroyed a display window. Turns out they do not like magic!" Marth explained.
"And I thought this day would go without incident," Ender muttered.
"Whoa, whoa, open the door, those are paying customers," the old man protested.
"FBI, OPEN UP!" Ender face palmed.
"You have got to be kidding me," he muttered. Ender let his eyes survey the store, looking for a way out, before his eyes fell on the back area. Eyes led up to a second floor, and Ender was willing to bet there was a window up there, considering he saw one on the way in. "Hey, let's go this way," Ender said to the others. Everyone saw where he was pointing.
"Are you sure that's our way out?" Zelda asked. Ender nodded.
"On three, we sprint away," Ender said.
"Wait a second, you can't go back there, that's a restricted area," the old man protested.
"Well, unless you want your shop of fakeness to be raided, we're going to," Ender said. The old man put up a finger to protest but put it back down again. "Good," Ender said.
"Alright, on three… one… two… three!" Marth said before he and Peach burst off the door sprinting. Ender, Daisy, and Link followed suit, with Zelda and Roy bringing up the rear. Four men in heavy S.W.A.T suits burst through the door, Tasers primed. Red lasers traced the room, passing over the old man, Wendy, and the kid. Two shots fired off, although only one hit. Zelda hit the floor but Roy was a second too late. Roy spasmed and hit the floor and Zelda was too late on getting up. Two agents were upon them before Ender and Link could turn around to help. The other two discharged their lasers but Link and Ender dodged them and, reluctantly, turned back around to escape.
"We'll be back!" Ender called back. The remainder of the group dashed into the back area and up the stairs. Running down the hallway, they searched all the rooms for a window. Ender found one where there were two beds, which looked like a makeshift bedroom.
"In here!" Ender called to the others. They raced in and barred the door as best they could to the banging of the FBI, Daisy and Link pushing themselves against the door for added weight. Ender ran over and opened the window with a strange one-eyed triangle being on it and leaned out over it. The mob had turned into more a crowd, and FBI officers were pushing them back from the Mystery Shack.
"We're gonna have to book it back to the campus. Like, really book it, no slowing down," Ender said.
"Let's just go," Daisy said, her teeth clenched against the bumping of the FBI agents.
"Well, then come on," Ender waved his hand for Marth and Peach to come through.
"You go, I'm right behind you," Daisy said to Link, who leveled a hard gaze on her with a head shake. "Oh for God's sake," Daisy rolled her eyes and shoved Link off the door. Ender waved Link through the window.
"Come on Daisy," Ender said.
"I am right behind you," Daisy said.
"Fine," Ender said. He hopped out the window and stood on the landing, waiting for her. Daisy shoved herself off the door and sprinted for the window. Right before she got there though, she tripped over her dress.
"Dammit," Ender muttered. He swung back into the window to pick her up. Right as he did so though, the FBI agents burst through the door. Ender froze as they leveled their Tasers on him and Daisy.
"Hands behind your head!" One of them yelled. Ender slowly began to put his hands behind his head before something… came to him. It was less of a flashback and more of an instinct. The agents morphed into bipedal monsters, with a gun on one arm and some kind of yellow saber on the other. Most of their skin was showing, albeit they had a small bit of armor across their chest and on their legs and arms. They had sharp teeth and horns on the side of their head. They looked like grounded demons. A large adrenaline rush surged through him and he rushed forward. He stepped and jumped off the bed to his right as the guns on the demons arms discharged at him. He hit one with a right hook, ramming it into the second before rolling past the other two.
He dispatched the far one with a chop to the neck.
He swept the other off his feet with a kick to the knee. The two he thought he had dispatched got back up and aimed their arm guns at him. Ender hopped to the side as they discharged and he rushed them again.
The first flew and hit the wall from a kick to the stomach. The second crumpled to the floor after a kick to the head. Ender himself crumpled down to the floor beside a bed after the adrenaline vanished suddenly. The demons formed back into FBI agents, and Ender hung his head.
"Motherfuck… that's gonna bite me in the ass," Ender said as he shakily stood up. Daisy looked at him with astonished eyes. Ender held out a hand. "You good?" He asked. Daisy kind of shakily nodded and took his hand. He pulled her up and turned to the window.
"Now let's go," Ender said. The crowd was beginning to calm down, but the others were nowhere to be found. They snuck to the edge opposite the crowd and hopped down and ran into the woods, where they found the others hiding.
"What took you two?" Peach asked, huffing.
"Ender… kicked the shit out… of the agents," Daisy said.
"Daisy!" Ender reprimanded.
"Well, it was kinda awesome," Daisy protested.
"You were shaking in your…" Ender glanced at what Daisy was wearing, "heels," he shrugged.
"It was still awesome," Daisy said.
"Alright, fine, can we go back to the campus now?" Ender asked.
"No. I am not leaving Roy behind," Marth said.
"We can't run in there half-assed, besides, they probably already hauled them off somewhere," Ender said. "We need a plan if we want to get them back," he finished. Marth considered it a moment then sighed.
"Fine… but if we don't get him back, your head is on the line," Marth pointed to Ender.
"It wasn't my idea to come here in the first place, but okay," Ender muttered.
"Hey, I think it's time to go, they're starting to search the woods," Peach pointed out.
"Good idea," Daisy said.
0-0-0-0-0
After booking it back to the campus, the group was severely out of breath, catching the eye of everyone.
"Hm? Are you three alright? And if I recall correctly, weren't there seven of you?" A little dog was planting flowers but noticed the group immediately as they walked into the campus.
"Have we met you yet?" Marth asked.
"Oh, right, I should introduce myself. I'm Isabelle, the assistant principal… and garden caretaker… and dorm maid… and a lot of other things," Isabelle said.
"Don't we have all of those?" Ender asked Link.
"Oh we do, I just need work to keep myself busy," the small dog answered sheepishly.
"Well, do you know where Master Hand's office is?" Peach asked.
"Yes, follow me!" The dog said cheerfully before turning to the school.
0-0-0-0-0
Three quick raps sounded from the door, alerting Master Hand and Shiffna.
"Well, looks like we need to cut this meeting short," Shiffna said while standing up.
"Wait, I have one last question… what is your big plan? You have to at least fill me in, if not both me and Palutena," Master Hand said. Shiffna smirked as he thought it over.
"Nah… you'll find out eventually… although it will be a long, winding road," Shiffna said before he snapped and opened a portal, stepping through to his domain.
"Uh, Master Hand? It's me, Isabelle," the small dog asked.
"Yes, yes, come in," came the muffled response from behind the thick door. Isabelle pushed the door open to a stressed Master Hand, although he attempted to smile when they came in.
"So, what can I do for you?" He asked the group as they sheepishly shuffled in.
"Well, you see…" Ender started before he was interrupted by Marth.
"We went into town to investigate and due to an accident, the FBI caught Roy and Zelda," he stated quickly. The forced smile faded quickly from Master Hand's face and he sighed.
"I should've seen something like this coming sooner or later," he said, standing up and turning around to look out the window that was behind his desk.
"Well, what do we do? We can't let them get carted off to D.C. or something," Peach said. Master Hand sighed.
"Well, this is your problem, so you have to figure it out. It'll ready you for the future, when you have to work in teams. I will say there is a police station in town, nearby the church. That's most likely where they're holding them, and you'll have to retrieve them from there," Master Hand said.
"Wait, you're a literal god Hand, why can't you take care of this?" Ender asked.
"Because it's your problem now," Master Hand said, before sitting back down and turning to face the window once more. "You can go now," he said. The group was ushered out by Isabelle and the door was closed on them.
"THIS IS YOUR FAULT!" Marth yelled at Ender.
"MY FAULT!? I THOUGHT MASTER HAND WOULD HELP!" Ender yelled back.
"Both of you stop it!" Daisy said.
"He started it," they both muttered.
"You two are childish," Peach muttered.
"And I'm gonna end it," Daisy said. "We're gonna hatch a plan to get those two back, got it?" She asked.
"Fine,"
"Yeah, let's do it," both boys answered reluctantly, reluctant to work with each other.
"Alright, first we need a plan," Daisy said.
"Which means recon," Peach said.
"Hm… I know two people who can maybe help us," Ender said.
"Well, let's grab 'em," Daisy said.
And that'll be the end of this chapter, which is easily the longest. This is like 7k words long. I should also probably stop self-inserting myself; I'm making myself look like a main character. Eh, after what I have planned for me and the gang, I'll keep it to minor cameos. Speaking of minor cameos, that group chat section, where I and one other person, Knot Yu, showed up, is kind of something I forgot to tell you guys about at the beginning. A Discord server called the Super Smash Prose is up and running, and I and Knot are members. Knot is actually An Person Peepul, who you might know for writing Brotherhood of Smash: Origins, currently working on Brotherhood of Smash, and wrote the first chapter to Team Smash's Convoluted as Shit Fic. I… don't know why I had to go into detail with that. *ahem* Anyway, Super Smash Prose is a cul- ImeanDiscordserver, where you can screw around with other Smash writers and players, challenge people to Smash games (or really anything Nintendo related), and even spread publicity for your fic (this is the perfect sales pitch). The code to the server is gDK48ua. Alright, see you all there (please come we surpassed 69 we have to reach 420 now).