Sorry it took so long to get this chapter out... I'm just a lazy butt. I'm sure I could've gotten it out sooner, but I got bored with it. Either way, I hope you enjoy. But if not... Whatever :)
It's the day that Lucina would be leaving Ylisse and going to join the Super Smash Bros. Tournament.
As she is finishing packing her things, she hears a knock on the door, and when she turns around she sees her father, Chrom, standing in the doorway.
"Hello, Father," Lucina says, happy to see him. "How are you this morning?"
"I am doing quite well, thank you for asking," he replies, "I was more wondering how you were doing, seeing as how you are the one leaving today."
"I am also alright, thank you." She replied, not wanting to reveal that she was nervous.
"Are you nervous?" Her father asks, able to see through his daughter.
"... Perhaps a little." She concedes reluctantly.
"It's ok to be scared sometimes, Lucina. Especially now, since you're going off to do something that I don't think I could ever do." He says, trying to comfort his daughter while failing horribly.
"Father, I know that you are trying to help, but I'm afraid that saying that is only making me feel worse." She says as she feels her heart pumping faster than before.
Chrom, realising that he made Lucina feel even more nervous, sat on her bed with her and gave her a hug.
"It will be alright, Lucy. Don't worry about a thing." He said, trying to reassure her.
"Thank you Father." She said, content with the reassurance she received. "I only wish Mother were here to see me off as well."
"Yes, well you know that she went on that fishing trip. She won't be back for at least another couple days." He said.
"I know, I just wish she were here."
"Well, I'll leave you alone to finish packing your things, I'll see you outside the castle when you're ready."
"Alright, I will see you then." She said, waving goodbye to her father.
Lucina had almost packed up everything, and after placing the last of her clothing in the bag, she saw her mask on her bedside table. She pondered whether or not she should bring it with her for a moment. This mask was how she had hid her identity after coming back from the future, she pretended to be Marth, the Hero-king, for a while before revealing her true identity.
After pondering for a while, she picked up the mask and placed it in with her clothing and tied the bag shut. She then made her way outside of the castle, where the king was, and stood beside him in wait of this so-called 'Master Hand'.
"How will he know where we are waiting for him?" Lucina asked her father, unsure if he knew where to find them.
"He'll know where we are, don't worry about that." Chrom said with a smirk on his face after seeing his daughter's bewildered expression.
Suddenly, one of the guards shouted: "Look, up there!" causing everyone to look to where he was pointing.
In the sky above them, a great white object was falling towards them. At first, Lucina was afraid that it was a meteor, but upon further inspection, she saw that it was in fact a gigantic hand falling from the sky.
She could not understand how or why a hand was falling towards them, but then she looked at her fathers face and saw that he was smiling. She then had a thought that didn't make any sense no matter how she looked at it.
"Father," Lucina asked uncertainly, "is this the Master Hand?"
"Yes, yes it is." Chrom replied.
Just then, the hand started to slow down, losing momentum before gently stopping a couple of feet off the ground.
"Princess Lucina," the hand said, "thank you for accepting my request to join my tournament. I am deeply grateful."
Lucina then saw that her Father, the king, was kneeling before this enormous hand. After being confused for a moment, she realised that this hand must be a very important person if it was able to make her father kneel in respect.
She then took a knee herself and said: "You are welcome... mister Hand?" She looked up and asked, uncertain of what she should call this being.
"Please, call me Master Hand. Mister Hand was my father." Master Hand chuckled at his own joke, lessening Lucina's worries.
"May I ask how we are going to travel to this tournament?" Lucina asked, concerned since he didn't seem to have a horse or carriage in sight.
"If you would kindly stand next to me, then I can teleport us there with a snap of my fingers."
"Really? You can do that?" Lucina asked, amazed that anyone could possibly have that kind of power.
"Oh, yes, it's quite simple. Although before we go, you should say goodbye to everyone since you won't be seeing them for a while." The hand said mysteriously.
Lucina then turned to her father and all of the guards waiting behind her.
"I will miss all of you dearly." She said after walking up to everyone and shaking their hands. "Especially you Father." She said after giving him a hug.
"I will miss you as well dear. Have fun on your journey." He said, hugging her back.
"I only wish Mother was here as well." Lucina said, sad that her mother couldn't se her go as well.
"Oh, don't worry about that. I'm sure you'll see her again soon." The king said with a smirk.
Lucina, confused by her father's words, walks up to Master Hand and stands beside him. Master Hand then waves goodbye to the Ylisseans before snapping his fingers and teleporting away.
Meanwhile in Skyworld, Palutena had just finished packing her clothes and was ready to meet Master Hand. She left her chambers and waited patiently for him to arrive, all the while thinking about how she would react when she saw Pit and Pittoo finally.
Just then, she saw something come up from below the clouds. She thought it was Master Hand and was ready to introduce herself.
"Hello, Master Hand, I am Lady Palutena, it is an honor to make your acquaintance." She said, giving a little bow.
"Oh, I'm sorry to disappoint you Lady Palutena, but I'm not Master Hand." The hand explained, twitching each of it's fingers.
"I beg your pardon?" The Goddess asked, confused.
"My name's Crazy Hand, I'm Master Hand's brother." Crazy Hand said, giving off a massive twitch.
"Crazy Hand?" She asked, skeptical about whether she should trust this hand or not.
"Yep, that's me. Me and my brother are working together to round up all of the new fighters he invited to his tournament." He explained.
"I see." The Goddess said, understanding finally. "There must be a handful of people to collect if you both need to work together."
"Oh, yeah, there's a ton. Even with both of us working together it'll take all day." The hand said tiredly.
"Well then we mustn't waste any more time if you hope to collect them all quickly." Said Palutena.
"Don't you wanna say goodbye to anybody before you go?" Crazy hand asked, a bit confused why she was all alone. "Usually when I pick people up they're surrounded by loved ones."
"Ah, well you see, no one here likes me all that much." The Goddess said with a hint of sadness. "They all think I get too emotional, so they try their best to avoid me as much as possible."
"I'm sorry to hear that." Said the hand. "But if that's the case then I think we'd better head out."
"Yes I suppose." She said, standing next to Crazy Hand.
"You already know what to do?" Asked the hand.
"Yes, I was here when Master Hand took Pit and Pittoo for this tournament."
"Really? Well then at least you have someone there waiting for you." The hand said, trying to cheer up the Goddess.
"Yes, I suppose I do. Thank you Mister Hand." She said gratefully.
"Please, call me Crazy Hand. Mister Hand was my father." Crazy Hand said, accidentally copying his brother while laughing crazily.
He then snapped his fingers and they teleported to Smash City.
Lucina thought she was ready to be teleported, after all, she had gone back in time before, and she thought it would be somewhat of a similar feeling. But when Master Hand snapped his fingers, she thought there would be at least a bit of a time-lapse, but they were there in an instant. Her brain couldn't process the fact that they weren't in Ylisse for a moment, so when Master Hand said: "we're here", she was a little confused.
"Wait, what do you mean 'we're here'?" She asked, not understanding what had happened. "You haven't done anything yet."
"You think I haven't done anything? Take a look for yourself." The hand said, waving at where he wanted her to look.
Lucina turned to look at what Master Hand was pointing at, and just as she turned around, something fell out of the sky and landed on top of her.
"OOF!" Lucina and Palutena said in unison.
"LOOK OUT BELOW!" Crazy Hand said right before landing on top of his brother.
"Agh, Crazy Hand! What are you doing!?" Master Hand asked, very annoyed with his brother.
"What does it look like? I'm collecting fighters like you asked me to." The left hand said as if it were obvious.
"I thought I told you to wait for my signal before teleporting. That way something like this doesn't happen!" Exclaimed the right hand.
"Oh, yeah." Crazy Hand remembered now that his brother would tell him when to teleport to Smash City so that it wouldn't get confusing. "Sorry bro, I forgot."
Master Hand sighed. "It's fine, just wait for me to tell you next time." The right hand conceded.
All while this argument is happening, Palutena had gotten up off of Lucina, who had the wind knocked out of her.
"I'm very sorry, do you need me to help you up?" The Goddess asked, concerned whether she hurt this woman or not.
"No, it's all right, I can get up on my own." Lucina said, sitting up while still trying to catch her breath. "Are you all right?"
"Oh, yes I'm quite alright." Said Palutena.
"Oh, your knee is bleeding," She pointed out. "You must have scraped the ground when you fell."
"Wait. I'm what?" The Goddess said in disbelief. "I can't be bleeding."
Palutena then looked down at her left knee and saw red liquid trickling down her leg. She recognized the liquid as blood since she had seen people bleeding before, but she couldn't believe it was happening to her.
"How is this possible..." She said quietly, sitting down.
"Lady Palutena!" Someone shouted from a ways away.
The two women looked up and saw a young boy wearing white clothes with wings growing out of his back.
"I can't believe you're finally here!" Pit said, ecstatic that his Goddess had arrived.
"..."
"Lady Palutena? Are you ok?" The angel asked, concerned for his Goddess.
"She just scraped her knee, she'll be fine." Lucina explained, somewhat confused about why this woman was acting strangely.
"Oh, no." Pit said, now understanding what was happening. "I know what's going on."
"Could you possibly tell-"
"Don't worry Lady Palutena! I'll get you some bandages!" Pit interrupted, running away to get bandages.
"..." Lucina was speechless. She had never met someone so energetic before.
"Are you ok Palutena?" Master Hand asked, snapping Lucina back to reality.
"...Yes, I think I will." Palutena said slowly. "I apologize, this has never happened before."
"That's alright, I understand." The right hand said. "We should cover up that cut though, it could get infected."
"That's alright, I'll take care of it." Lucina said, reaching in her bag. "I have bandages in my bag."
She pulled bandages and some cloth out of her bag and started wiping the blood off of Palutena's leg and her cut. After she'd finished cleaning it, she started wrapping the bandage around her knee.
"Oh... thank you Mrs..?" Palutena asked.
"Lucina. Also it's Ms, not Mrs." She corrected.
"Ah, I see."
Soon Lucina finished bandaging Palucina's knee and returned the bandages to her bag while keeping the cloth with her in case she spots a place to dispose of it.
"Thank you." The Goddess said.
"It's no problem." The Princess replied, extending her hand. "Do you need help standing up?"
"Thank you, but I should be fine." She said, standing up.
Just then, the Goddess felt a sharp pain in her knee and nearly fell forward. Luckily, Lucina has good reflexes and caught her. Lucina chuckled.
"Are you sure you don't need any help?" She asked.
"Yes, I'm sure." Palutena said, a little irked that a mortal had the gall to laugh at her.
Palutena then pushed off of Lucina and looked at the Hands. "So, where are we going?" She asked, impatient and wanting to move forward.
"You guys are going to the Smash Mansion," Crazy Hand replied. "We need to keep gathering fighters."
"I see." Lucina said. "Which way is this mansion?"
"You go down the street here, turn left, and go straight. You can't miss it." Master Hand explained.
"Alright, thank you." The Princess said, waving goodbye and starting down the street with Palutena lagging a bit behind.
The space they just walked out of was a cul de sac surrounded by walls. There is a blue circle in the middle of it where the Hands teleport in and out of Smash City.
Master Hand teleported first, followed by his brother. Lucina and Palutena then turned the corner and saw an incredible sight. There were tons of buildings going along down the street, some of which were shops while most of them were houses containing all different kinds of Miis.
"This is amazing." Palutena and Lucina said in unison.
Lucina then looked at the person whom she assumes is a strange woman who doesn't like blood.
"By the way, I never found out what your name was." Lucina said, realizing she had forgotten to ask. "My name is Lucina."
"Lady Palutena." The Goddess replied.
"'Lady'?" The Princess asked, a bit confused. "Is that your first name?"
"Oh, no it isn't. Lady is what I prefer people to call me." She explained.
"Oh, why is that?"
"Well, I'm a Goddess you see."
Lucina was skeptical.
"A Goddess?" She asked.
"Yes, a Goddess." Palutena replied. "Do you not believe me?"
"No offense but, no I don't."
"Hm, well would you like some proof?" She asked, upset that this mortal woman was being so rude.
"Yes, that would be helpful." Lucina said, unsure what this person could possibly do to prove that she was a Goddess.
"Alright, stand back a bit." She said, waving her away.
Lucina took a few steps backwards before stopping and waiting for proof from this woman that she was actually a Goddess. Palutena then asked: "Are you ready?" before unfurling her ethereal wings, which span the length of her body at least. Lucina was shocked at the sight of someone having wings. She also felt ashamed that she was so rude to this woman.
Lucina then pulled out her Parallel Falchion and placed the point on the ground beside her before taking a knee. "I apologise for my rudeness, Lady Palutena. I hope that you can forgive me." She said, angry with herself for being rude to someone, even if she wasn't a Goddess.
"I suppose it's alright, just make sure you're more respectful in the future." The Goddess said, smirking a little.
"Of course." Lucina promised, standing up. "Shall we continue on to this 'Smash Mansion' the Hands were speaking of?"
"Alright." Palutena agreed. "Let's go."
The Princess and the Goddess started walking down the street in silence. It was somewhat awkward since they both had questions about each other, but neither wanted to initiate conversation since they each thought the other wanted to be left to themselves.
Eventually, neither of them could hold it in anymore, so they each asked the first question that came to mind.
"So, where are you from?" They asked in unison.
They were both surprised for a moment, but then they started chuckling at how unlikely it was that something like that would happen.
"I apologise, you should go first." Lucina offered.
"Alright then." Palutena agreed. She then went on to explain about how she was from a place called Skyworld that sits above the clouds, filled with buildings made of stone, ones that would remind you of old Roman buildings.
"That sounds amazing." Lucina said. "I couldn't imagine living in the sky."
"Speaking of," Palutena remembered. "It's your turn to tell me where you come from."
"Ah, yes." Lucina was reminded of her home. "I am from the country of Ylisse, while I live in the city of Ylisstol."
Lucina then went on to describe her home, where she lived in a magnificent castle overlooking the city, where the townsfolk would sometimes come up from the city to say hi or to give gifts. While Lucina and her father always tell them that they needn't give them anything, the people always seem to do it anyway.
"Wow, that sounds fun." The Goddess said. "Being able to talk to people whenever you want."
"... Yeah, it is." Lucina was somewhat concerned with the phrasing the Goddess used, but she was sure that if she wanted to say anything about it she would have already.
"You said you live in a castle?" Palutena asked.
"Yes, that's right."
"Does that mean you're a queen or something?"
"Not quite, actually I am a princess." She explained.
"I see." Palutena said. "What about your family? The king and queen?"
"Well, my father is a good king, and a better man." Lucina said with admiration. "I someday hope to be like him."
"And what about your mother?"
"My mother is a very talented magic user. She can summon fire or even lightning from her tome." She said.
"Tome?" Palutena asked.
"A tome is basically a spell book." Lucina explained before looking down at her feet. "Although I am a bit disappointed that she wasn't with me before I left Ylisse. Unfortunately she had gone on an expedition the day before I received my letter, so she couldn't be with me before I was gone."
Palutena then thought about her own departure from Skyworld, and about how no one was with her when she left. She thought about saying something but decided against it, thinking it would be rude to interrupt the Princess.
"I'm sorry to hear that." The Goddess said.
"That's alright, all I can do now is try my best and hopefully make her proud." Lucina said, holding her head higher.
After talking some more about their respective worlds, they eventually found themselves in front of a gate blocking them from going further. There was also a sign on the gate that read: 'Smash Mansion ahead, state your name(s) into the speaker to be let inside.'
"'The speaker'?" Lucina said aloud, confused. "What's a speaker?"
"I believe it's this device on the wall here." Palutena pointed out, addressing the box attached to the brick wall.
"What do we do with it?"
"Well, it said to speak into it correct?" The Goddess suggested.
"Very well. Hello? Can anyone here me?" The Princess tried saying.
"Excuse me, is anyone there?" Palutena tried.
"Hmm, wait." Lucina said, noticing something. "There's a button on the box."
"Where?"
"There." She said, pointing at the bottom right corner of the black box.
"Do you think we should push it?" Palutena asked.
"I can't think of any other option." Lucina said before reaching and pushing the button.
Nothing happened at first, and Lucina was confused.
"What if we try holding the button and then speaking?" Palutena suggested.
"Maybe." Lucina said before pushing and holding the button. "Hello? Can anyone hear me?"
"Please state your name and purpose." A voice coming out of the speaker said.
The fact that a voice came out of such a tiny machine startled Lucina for a moment and she let go of the button. She then held it again and said: "My name is Lucina and I am with Lady Palutena, I believe we are here to participate in the Smash Brothers tournament."
A few moments passed before the voice said: "Very well, please come in."
The gate then opened automatically, allowing Lucina and Palutena to come through.
The Princess and the Goddess then walked inside and up the winding path towards the mansion, hearing the gate close behind them.
"What a bizarre contraption." Lucina mused.
"We're lucky to have even made it into the grounds." Palutena said. "They should have more clear instructions."
"I agree."
They were about halfway to the mansion when someone shouted down to them.
"Lady Palutena!" Yelled Pit.
He started running down the hill waving bandages over his head.
"I finally found them!"
Palutena chuckled at Pit's excitement.
Pit finally reached them halfway down the hill and bent down to examine his Goddess's knee.
"Where was the cut Lady Palutena?"
"There's no more need for that Pit, Lucina here has already taken care of it." She said, waving towards Lucina.
"You have?" Pit asked.
"Yes, I happened to have bandages in my bag and wrapped up her cut."
"Oh... thank you!" He said, running to give Lucina a hug.
Lucina, who wasn't expecting someone to rush at her, grabbed one of Pit's arms and swung him over her shoulder, slamming him into the ground.
"OOF!" Pit exclaimed.
"Lucina!" The Goddess yelled. "What are you doing!?"
"Oh! I apologise!" Lucina said, helping Pit up. "I wasn't expecting you to do that. My instincts took control."
"I suppose it's alright," Pit said wincing as he was standing up. "I guess I shouldn't have ran at you."
"Still, I'm sorry."
"Don't worry about it," Pit said, patting Lucina's shoulder. "Now I know not to mess with you."
Pit then chuckled at his own joke and Lucina joined in after a second.
"Yes, I suppose so." The Princess said.
"Anyways, we should probably get going." Pit said, walking towards to mansion. "You still need to find your rooms and get unpacked."
The three of them then started up the hill again.
"By the way, I forgot to ask for your name." Lucina remembered.
"Ah, right. My name's Pit, I'm Lady Palutena's servant and Captain of her Royal Guard." Pit said.
"Nice to meet you, I'm-"
"Lucina right?" Pit interrupted. "I heard Lady Palutena say it earlier."
"Yes, that's right." Lucina said, not expecting him to know her name. "I was wondering, if you don't mind me asking, are you an angel?"
"An angel?" Pit asked, as if the notion were ridiculous. "What gave you that idea?"
"Well, it's just that you had wings and you worked under Lady Palutena so I figured..." Lucina explained, worried that she had offended him.
Just then Pit started laughing. "I'm just kidding. Yes I'm an angel."
Lucina sighed. "I was worried I had offended you for a moment."
"Trust me, even if I weren't an angel, being called one would be a pretty good compliment anyway." Pit reassured Lucina.
Palutena chuckled at how Pit and Lucina were getting along. He had always been good at making friends.
Finally, they reached the top of the hill and were in front of the gigantic doors.
"Ready?" Pit asked, swinging the doors open. "Tadaaa."
Lucina and Palutena were expecting something more exciting when Pit opened the doors, but all they could see was empty space with doors on the left and right of the room.
"What exactly are we supposed to look at Pit?" Palutena asked, looking around the room.
"Hmm, maybe they all went to the rec room." Pit said, contemplating. "Anyway, we should get you guys to you rooms, follow me."
He then walked through the left door and walked down the hallway to where there was a large staircase going upwards.
"All we need to do is walk up these stairs until we see the floor with our symbol on it." Pit explained.
They then started up the spiraling staircase, passing many floors in search of their own.
"Ah, here we are." Pit said after reaching the seventh floor. "This is our floor Lady Palutena."
"I see. Then I suppose we should make our way to our rooms then." Palutena said. "It was nice meeting you Lucina, I'm sure we'll see each other again soon."
"It was nice meeting you too." Lucina agreed. "And you too Pit."
"Nice meeting you Lucina. Let's go Lady Palutena." He said before leading his Goddess down the fairly short hallway.
Lucina then had no choice but to go up the stairs further until she found her floor.
Luckily it didn't take too long, and after climbing past two more floors, she found hers and started down the hallway.
As she was making her way past the first door, she saw that it had a name on it. The first one read: 'Marth'. Lucina thought about knocking on the door, but then she remembered Pit saying how everyone was in the rec room, so she left it and kept walking.
Eventually she found her door with 'Lucina' written on it. She went to open the door and found it unlocked. She pushed it open and stepped inside.
The room was a bit more then a room. It had a space for a kitchen, a bathroom, a living room, and what she assumed was a bedroom just beyond a door to her left. She went through the door on the left and found herself in a room with a double bed in the middle of the wall on the opposite side of her with a nightstand next to her bed where she could place personal belongings. To the left of her, there was a closet where she could put her clothes and other less important things. Next to the closet on the right was a place to mount her sword on two pegs. On the left of the closet in the middle of the wall suspended off the ground was a long flat box similar to the one outside, except this one had a mirror like substance on the front of it, with little buttons on the side.
She decided to put away her clothes and her sword first, so she went and hung her swords on the pegs before walking inside the closet and unpacking her belongings.
After she was finished unpacking her clothes, she went and sat on the bed next to her nightstand so that she could put her personal belongings there. She decided to place her mask there.
As she was putting down her mask, she noticed that there was another, smaller blue box with a mirror on her nightstand. She picked it up and a note fell off of the back of it.
'Push and hold the small button. - MH' the note read.
She assumed that 'MH' was an acronym for Master Hand. She held the device in her hand and saw multiple buttons on either side. She held the smaller button on the right side, and after a couple of seconds the mirror lit up and showed a strange symbol before turning into a blue background with little boxes in front.
Lucina had never seen anything like it before, she had no idea what to do next, so she tried holding the button and speaking into it like outside.
"Hello?" She said. "Is anyone there?"
She then let go of the button and saw that the blue picture with the boxes had disappeared. She was very confused, but she tried holding the button again and saw that the picture had reappeared.
She was very intrigued by this strange box, but figuring it out would have to wait since someone had just knocked on the door of her new home.
Lucina put the new device back on her nightstand, got up off of her bed and walked to the front door.
Whoever was outside knocked again.
"I'm coming, one moment." She said, nearing the door.
She reached the door and pulled it open to find a giant hand waiting outside.
"Oh, hello Master Hand." Lucina said, greeting him.
"Actually it's Crazy Hand." The left hand said.
"Oh," she said. "I apologise."
"That's alright, it happens more often than you probably think." The Hand reassured her.
"Ah, I see. What would you like?" She asks.
"I'm just here to tell you that we're having a meeting in the common room at 2:30, and to please make sure you're there."
Lucina looked at the clock and saw that it was 12:45 right now, which gave her about an hour and forty-five minutes to finish unpacking.
"Understood, I will be there." She promised.
"Awesome, see you there." Crazy Hand said before moving on to the next room.
Lucina closed the door and turned to go back to her room to finish unpacking, all the while wondering what the meeting could be about.
Palutena and Pit were walking down the hallway, coming to a sudden stop when Pit said: "Ah, here's your room Lady Palutena."
Palutena then opened the door, with Pit bowing as she walked through. He then tried walking in behind her.
"Oh, you can go back to your room now that I've found mine, Pit." She said. "Thank you for all of your help."
Pit looked a little disappointed. "Right, of course." He said, a bit dejected. "Enjoy your room Lady Palutena."
With that Pit walked out of the room, back down the hallway, and down the stairs.
After he left, Palutena closed the door and took a look around her new living space. It was more or less exactly the same as Lucina's room, except for the fact that Palutena's room was more green while Lucina's was more blue (e.g. the sheets were a different colour, some of the walls were painted different, etc.).
She also went to her room and started to unpack. She was putting clothes in the closet when she noticed the green box on her nightstand. She set down the dress she was holding and walked over to her nightstand, picking up the box once she was close enough.
Just like Lucina's, a note fell off of the back telling her to hold the small button. She found it and held it until a flash and a symbol appeared on the mirror-like glass front of the box, revealing the green background as well as the little boxes.
Palutena wasn't sure exactly what to do with it, but she wouldn't get the chance to figure it out since someone had just knocked on her front door.
She got up and walked back out to the living room, opening the front door to find Crazy Hand.
"Hello there, Crazy Hand." She greeted. "How are you doing?"
"I'm fine." The hand replied. "How's your leg?"
She had almost forgotten about when she fell from the sky. "It's quite alright. In truth I had forgotten that it had even gotten hurt."
"Good to hear." Crazy Hand said. "I'm just here to tell you that we're having a little meeting in the common room at 2:30 and to just please make sure you're there for it."
Palutena looked at the clock and saw that it just turned 1:00, giving her an hour and a half to finish packing.
"No problem." She said brightly. "I'll be there."
"Great, see ya." The hand said before turning and floating down the hall.
Palutena then closed the door and turned to walk back to her room, determined to not only finish packing her things, but also figure out what the box was, and how to use it.
Lucina had just finished packing and looked at the clock, seeing that it was 2:20. If she didn't hurry, she would be late for the meeting on the very first day. Being late would give off a very bad first impression.
She grabbed her sword off of the pegs, grabbed the strange blue box, and walked out the front door to go find the common room.
As she got down the stairs, she looked for a sign, or maybe a person that could help tell her where she ought to go.
As she was looking around at the bottom of the stairs, she felt a tap on her shoulder and spun around to see who it was.
It was Palutena, standing on the last stair, and she was chuckling at Lucina's behavior.
"I'm sorry," she said, still chuckling. "I didn't mean to scare you."
"That's alright. You didn't mean any harm." Lucina replied. "By the way, you wouldn't happen to know how to get to the common room would you?"
"Actually yes." She replied. "I saw a sign pointing to it on the way in. Want me to show you the way?"
"If you wouldn't mind." She said gratefully.
They then walked towards the door leading into the main foyer and going through the next one on the other side where, sure enough, just outside the door was a sign with an arrow saying 'auditorium'.
As they walked towards the room at the end of the hall on the other side of the door, Lucina asked how Palutena's leg was doing.
"It's fine now, can't even tell it got hurt." She said smiling.
"That's good to hear." Lucina replied, unknowingly repeating Crazy Hand's words.
"So what do you think the meeting is about?" Palutena asked.
"It's probably just a meeting to welcome us and to introduce us to the other participants."
"That makes sense." The Goddess said. "Oh, before I forget." She said, pulling out the green box. "Did you get one of these?"
"Oh, you got one too!" She said, pulling out her blue one. "I have no idea what it is."
"Neither do I! All I got was a note telling me to hold this tiny button on the side of it. I tried figuring out what it does, but I had no luck." She said, looking down at the device.
"I got a note like that as well." Lucina replied. "At first I thought it was a communication device like the one at the gate, but when I held the button it just turned back into a mirror."
"Everything about this place is so strange so far." Palutena said, shaking her head. "Well, I suppose we'll just have to ask Master Hand or Crazy Hand about it later."
"I suppose so." She replied.
They finally made it to the auditorium and Lucina held the door open for Palutena, walking in after her.
"Lady Palutena!" Yelled an energetic voice. "Over here!"
She spotted Pit jumping and waving at her and chuckled at his behavior.
"I'll be heading over there now." She said to Lucina. "It was very nice talking to you though."
"It was nice speaking with you as well." Lucina replied.
"Hey, you know what?" Palutena said, a new idea forming in her head. "We should get together later and try and figure out what these boxes are instead of asking. I always find that I figure things out easier when someone else is with me."
Lucina thought about it. She usually liked to figure things out on her own, but it may actually be fun to try it with someone else for a change.
"All right, that sounds fun." Lucina said.
"I'll find you after the meeting." Palutena said. "See you."
She then walked toward Pit while waving at Lucina, who waved back. As soon as Palutena turned however, Lucina was grabbed from behind in a bear hug. Lucina struggled against the strong grip, eventually breaking free and spinning around to see her mother.
"Mother?!" Lucina exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"
"The same as you dear. I'm participating in the tournament." She said, laughing at Lucina's reaction.
"I thought you had gone on a fishing trip."
"Well... I may have told your father to say that to give me an excuse to come here early and surprise you." She explained with a mischievous grin on her face.
"I see. Well I'm really glad that you're hear nonetheless." Lucina said, giving her mother a hug."
"I'm glad I'm here too." She agreed, hugging her back. "Well, do you want to go grab a seat?"
Lucina nodded and the two went off and sat in the middle row.
Master Hand and Crazy Hand then floated onto the stage, silencing everyone with their presence.
"Good afternoon everyone, and welcome to the Smash Mansion." Master Hand said in a booming voice. "You are gathered here so that we may tell you what the Smash Brothers Tournament entails. But also so that you can meet the other contestants as well, and from what I've seen so far, everyone has been friendly, which makes me very happy."
"Anyway, as for the tournament details, the matches will be split up into brackets of four-person free-for-all with the winner of each bracket moving onto the next until finally we end the tournament with a one-on-one match for the Smash Tournament Trophy." The hand finished with a flourish.
The returning participants from earlier tournaments started clapping after Master Hand mentioned the Trophy, making the newcomers wonder what was so special about a trophy, and whether or not they should start clapping as well.
"Something else worth mentioning is that none of the matches will be timed. Each contestant will be given three stocks, and the only item you will be allowed to use is the Smash Ball." Master Hand continued.
'Stocks?' Lucina thought. 'I wonder what stocks are.'
'Hmm.' Thought Palutena. 'A Smash Ball? Everything he says is making me more curious.'
"Just so you know, there's a training facility around back of the mansion." Crazy Hand piped in. "If you want to use it, make sure you know how it works. It might result in injury otherwise."
The newcomers were a little concerned by this, but everyone decided to wait until after the meeting to bring up anything they wanted to ask.
"There is one thing we must address before we let you go back to your rooms." Master Hand said. "We know that this should go without saying... But please do not attempt to harm other contestants before the tournament."
The newcomers were surprised by this request. It seemed like such an obvious thing not to do, but you never really think about it until someone mentions it.
"Again, we know this must seem obvious, but we have had an issue when a contestant attacked another to try and take them out of the tournament beforehand. The contestant in question had been immediately kicked out and banned from the tournament, while the victim unfortunately couldn't participate and had to leave." The hand explained. "We have placed security measures in the event that something like this happens again, but we felt it necessary that we address it nonetheless."
Everyone was silent for a little bit, taking in this information. It seems that the Hands have given this speech before, considering the nonchalant expressions on the older participants faces.
"Welp, that's all we wanted to say, thanks for being here. You can go back to your rooms, or you can go and explore the mansion a little more if you want. All we ask is that you stay in the mansion tonight, but you'll bee able to go out into the city tomorrow if you want." Crazy Hand said, shooing us from the auditorium.
"Wait." Said Link. "You haven't told us when the tournament starts."
"Ahhh, you're right!" Crazy Hand exclaimed. "Sorry 'bout that. The tournament starts five months from today, so make sure you're ready and know what you're doing for when it starts."
"Thanks." Link said.
"Nah, thank you for reminding me." The hand said. "Anyway, any more questions before we wrap this up?"
Both Lucina and Palutena then put up their hands.
"We'll go Lucina first, then Palutena." Master Hand said. "Lucina?"
"I was just wondering what these 'stocks' you mentioned were." She asked.
"Stocks are a different way of saying how many lives you have." Master Hand explained. "If I were to say you had three stocks, I would be saying you had three lives."
"Lives?" Lucina asked. "What do you mean lives?"
"All will be explained once you go down to the training facility. Until then, we can have a pamphlet sent to your room for further explanation."
Lucina knew that he wasn't going to answer anymore of her questions, though she didn't know why. "I would appreciate that. Thank you."
"No problem." Master Hand said. "Palutena?"
"I was wondering what a Smash Ball was." She asked. "Though from what I understand it gives you some sort of power boost?"
"You are mostly correct. The Smash Ball is and always will be something that could be the defining factor in one of our tournaments. It will spawn randomly and the person who ends up breaking it will be given a special power to use as they see fit. Each power is unique to each person as well."
"I see. I assume we will learn more about it later on when we go to the training facility and such?" She asked.
"Yup." Confirmed Crazy Hand. "That's right. Is there anymore questions that you want us to answer before you head back to your rooms?"
Nobody else raised their hands.
"Alright, if that's everything, now you can head back to your rooms, or whatever you're gonna do. We're gonna be at the training place tomorrow at 3:00pm, we hope to see you there." The hand said, waving us away once again.
This time we did get up and leave the auditorium, Lucina with her mother, Palutena with Pit, and everyone else either by themselves or with a friend or two.
Palutena was walking alongside Pit towards the stairs when she remembered that she was going to meet Lucina and mess around with those weird boxes.
"I'm sorry Pit, but I just remembered that I have to go do something." She explained. "If you wouldn't mind, you can just go on without me to your room."
"I can come with you if you want me to." Pit replied.
"No Pit, this is personal, so I'd rather you didn't."
"Ah, I see." Pit said, looking disappointed. "Would it be alright if we train together tomorrow?"
"I don't see a problem with that." Palutena said smiling down at the angel. "Now go on. I'll see you tomorrow."
Pit then walked off, leaving Palutena to go and look for Lucina.
She was walking back toward the auditorium, trying her best not to bump into the other people going the opposite direction.
She eventually made it to the double doors of the auditorium and, after looking around outside a little, looked inside.
She saw Lucina in there, the only problem is that she was already with someone else. A white-haired girl wearing a black robe. Her and Lucina were talking and laughing like they were old friends.
Palutena was just standing there in the doorway, wondering whether she should go in and talk to her, or just leave and leave her be. It's obvious they knew each other anyway.
'I should probably just leave them alone...' Palutena thought. 'She probably doesn't even remember earlier.'
Palutena was just turning away from the door when she heard someone call her name.
"Lady Palutena!"
She turned around and saw that Lucina was walking towards her.
"Oh, hello Lucina." Palutena said, waving. "How are you doing?"
"I'm doing fine," Lucina replied. "How are you?"
"I'm alright." Palutena really wanted to ask who she was talking to, but didn't want to be rude.
"There's someone I want you to meet if you wouldn't mind." Lucina said.
"Oh. That's fine." Palutena said. "Who is it?"
"My mother." Lucina said.
"Your mother?" She asked, confused. "But I thought she wasn't here?"
"Neither did I. But apparently she came ahead of me to surprise me." Lucina explained, smiling brightly.
"Oh... How nice." She said.
"Would you like to meet her?" Lucina asked.
Palutena thought about how they were supposed to be figuring out those boxes. Although, it couldn't hurt could it? After all, it was only her mother.
"Alright then."
Lucina then led Palutena to her mother, introducing them both.
"Lady Palutena, this is my mother. Mother, this is Lady Palutena.
"It's a pleasure to meet you." Robin said, reaching out to shake her hand.
"The pleasure's all mine." She said, shaking her hand.
"I hope you don't mind my asking. But is Lady your first name or something?" Robin asked.
Palutena chuckled. "No, that's just what I prefer that people call me."
"Really?"
"Yes. In fact your daughter asked me that same question the first time we met."
"Oh, wow." Robin said, laughing. "That's pretty funny."
"Yes I suppose it is." Palutena agreed, also laughing. "Lucina?"
Lucina looked at Palutena. "Yes?"
"I hate to say this, but do you remember what we were going to do?"
Lucina thought for a moment. "Ah, yes! We were going to try and figure out what these things were." She said, pulling out her blue box.
"Oh! I know what those things are." Said Robin.
"You do?" Lucina and Palutena said in unison.
"Well, I know what they're called at least." Robin explained. "Apparently they're called 'cellphones'. 'Phones' for short."
"Cellphones?" asked Lucina. "That's an extremely weird name."
"Very weird." Palutena agreed. "Do you know what they do?"
"I haven't gotten that far unfortunately. All I know is that you activate it with that small button on the side." Robin said, pulling out her own white one and pointing at the button. "Although if I'm not mistaken, you can actually tap on the mirror after you activate it and it should do something."
"Really?" Lucina asked. "I almost don't believe you."
Lucina then looked at the 'cellphone', thinking about just how strange this place is. While Palutena looked at her, thinking about whether or not she should say something.
"Lady Palutena?" Robin asked. "Are you alright? You look somewhat upset."
"Oh, yes I'm perfectly fine."
"Is something the matter?" Lucina also asked.
"Uh, no. No there isn't." Palutena assured them, wondering how she should word what she was about to say. "I was actually just wondering if you would want to maybe go and mess around with these 'phones'."
"Ah, of course. Would you like to go now?" She asked.
"If that's alright with you."
Lucina then turned to her mother. "I'm sorry, but I'm going to leave now."
"Oh, that's quite alright." She said. "I'm glad you're already making friends."
"Thank you very much." Lucina said, giving her one last hug. "Shall we go then?"
"We shall." Answered Palutena.
They then turned around and walked towards the doors leading out of the auditorium, with Robin following a good distance behind.
'Good for you Lucina.' Robin thought. 'Good for you.'
Palutena and Lucina left the auditorium and walked down the hall towards the stairs. They were planning to go to one of their rooms and sit down and mull over the new information they received.
They were almost at the door to the stairs when Palutena saw a sign.
"Oh, Lucina." She said, stopping Lucina in her tracks.
"What is it?"
"That sign there says 'common room' on it." She said, pointing to a sign above another set of double doors.
"Oh. That's interesting." Lucina said, not giving it much thought.
"Would you like to go work in the common room instead? Just to see what it's like?" Palutena asked.
"Um..." Lucina wasn't sure. They had already made a plan, and she didn't exactly like changing plans so suddenly. She was in fact ashamed of herself for letting herself forget the plan she had made with Palutena so easily. She didn't really want her to know that however. "I'm not entirely sure that's a good idea."
"Why not?"
"Well, we have already made a plan, and to be honest, I don't really like to change plans if I can help it." She explained.
"I see." Palutena said. "Although, if you always plan for things, then you'll never be surprised by anything."
"That's kind of the entire point of planning." Lucina said, making a joke.
"I know, but not being surprised is so boring." Palutena said.
"How about this." Lucina started. "We go up to one of our rooms today, then the next time we go to the common room? The Hands did say to go to our rooms after all."
Palutena couldn't deny this logic, and it infuriated her. She was a Goddess! She should be making rules, not following them.
"*sigh* Alright, that makes sense." Palutena conceded. "We'll just go to the common room tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?" Lucina asked.
"Or whenever you feel like." She said, realizing that she had just assumed that they would do this again tomorrow. "Sorry."
"No need to apologise. If I have time tomorrow, I'll find you and we can go." Lucina said, smiling.
"Oh, yes that would be nice." Palutena said.
"After you." Lucina said, bowing down and letting her walk through the door to the stairs.
They walked up and up and up the stairs, finally stopping at Palutena's floor.
"My room is just down this hallway." Palutena said, pointing.
"Alright." Lucina said, Palutena letting her walk ahead of her.
They made it to her door and Lucina tried to push open the door, but to no avail.
"That's strange." She said.
"What is?" Asked Palutena.
"Did you lock your door?"
"No, in fact I wasn't aware there were locks on the door."
"Mine didn't have any either." Lucina confirmed.
"Let me try." Said Palutena.
She put her hand on the knob, turned, and pushed it open with no difficulty.
"Hmm." She said, thinking. "Were you playing a joke on me?"
"No, it was definitely locked." Lucina assured her.
"I'd like you to try again if you don't mind." Palutena said, closing the door and backing away.
Lucina then tried turning the knob and pushing, but it wouldn't turn. She tried turning the other way, still no result. She even tried turning and hitting the door with her shoulder, but the door just didn't budge.
"I can't open it, no matter what." She said, giving up and backing away from the door.
"Strange." Said Palutena.
She then walked up, turned the knob, and opened the door once again.
"It would seem only I am allowed to open it."
"That's incredible." Said Lucina in awe.
"It is indeed impressive." Palutena agreed. "Shall we go in then?"
They both went in, with Lucina closing the door afterwards.
Lucina was looking around the Goddess' room, noticing that it was essentially her room, but green.
"This looks exactly like my room." She pointed out.
"Really? That's interesting."
"Yes, it is." Lucina said before going into the kitchen and exploring.
There really wasn't much to explore unfortunately, seeing as how it was her exact room. She eventually found herself outside Palutena's room.
'I wonder if it's also the same as mine.' She thought.
"Lucina?" Called Palutena from the living room.
"One moment." She said, walking away from the door and into the living room.
"There you are, sit down." Palutena said, patting the cushion beside her.
She sat down, facing toward the Goddess.
Palutena had already pulled out her 'phone', and was holding the button to activate it. Lucina pulled hers out as well.
"What do you think it actually does?" Palutena asked.
"To be quite honest, it could do almost anything." Lucina answered. "We just have to try different things and hope for the best."
They then went to work, trying anything and everything they could think of. Palutena was holding hers upside down when Lucina said. "Oh!"
"What is it?" She asked
"I was poking the screen like my mother said, and the picture changed." She said, in absolute wonder.
"What did you poke?"
"Umm," she said, looking for the box she poked. "It was that, the thing that looks somewhat like a white banana wearing earmuffs."
Palutena then poked the banana and saw that it indeed changed from her green picture to a picture with words like 'contacts', and 'dial' on it.
"Ooooh!" she exclaimed. "That's amazing!"
"Seems like we're getting the hang of this." Lucina said.
"Looks like it." Palutena agreed.
Palutena and Lucina spent the rest of the night trying different things, and figuring out what 'dial', and 'contacts' meant before Lucina had to leave and go back to her room.
"Goodbye Lady Palutena." Lucina said.
"Goodbye." Palutena replied.
Lucina then walked out of the door, up the staircase, and into her room, collapsing on the bed.
'That was fun...' She thought. 'Maybe I should do things like this more often.'
With that thought going around in her head, she drifted off to sleep, happy that she had decided to come here after all.