The Punishment

Lucas went on to his final round. This one was the toughest match of his life, with him facing off against Mario himself. Lucas hasn't been around nearly as long as Mario, so this comes down to finesse and skill... and a lot of luck.

(Of course I'd have to face off against Mario. Well, here goes first place. I honestly don't care if I get knocked off; I'm just happy I made it his far.)

Lucas charged forward and hit Mario in the gut, and Mario retaliated by launching a fireball. The match lasted several minutes longer than Lucas expected it to, so the stage started collapsing on its own.

"Mario, did you rig the stages to fall after a certain amount of time?"

"Yes, but that's what adds to the excitement. It keeps everyone on their toes, and makes them have to think a lot more, which is something I enjoy."

(I can't believe Mario did this to us... He wanted to do something his way, which seems to have cost a lot of people the game. Had everything been normal, I might actually be facing someone else right now... God, I can't believe it... Mario came out of his serious state for once, and showed his true colors. I still remember the day he changed...) Lucas slips and starts falling into the void. (It just came out of nowhere, and he put all these rules up. I hated them at first, but I eventually got used to them. Ness and I still struggle with some of them from time to time, but we manage to get by... It looks like my time is up, Mario. Congrats on your fourth win, and I'll see you next year, buddy.)

Lucas disappears into the void, then reappears by Ness' side. He turns his head to see Ness and his violet eyes looking back at him, and Lucas turns red.

"Hey, you did really good out there. Claus is pretty proud of you."

Lucas looks up to see his brother right in front of him, red in the face as well.

"I-I guess I misjudged you, bro... You really do have what it takes to be here."

"It's OK; lots of people did the same thing when I first arrived."

Ness drops his crutches and throws them over the side. They don't reappear next to him, so Claus is confused as to why Ness did that.

"I don't really need them anymore. I'm at the point where I'm walking a lot better..."

Lucas, with a smile on his face, taps his brother on the shoulder. "Hey, Claus..."

"Hm, what?"

"I remember you saying that if I won the bet, I got to punish you..."

(God, I totally forgot about that.) "Um, yeah... What are you gonna do?"

"I, uh, haven't thought about it yet... When I do have it, though, you'll be so embarrassed!"

"Yeah, sure, keep saying that."

Ness leaned in closer to Lucas' ear. "I can help you if you want."

"That would be great!"

Ness takes Lucas' hand in his, and they warp back to the mansion. They make their way back to their room and close the door quietly. They turn to each other and look into the others' eyes. Lucas sees serenity in Ness' violet eyes, and Ness sees humility in Lucas' sky blue ones. They bring themselves closer to the other and kiss. Neither of them want to separate from this moment, since they're all alone. Lucas' feelings for Ness have been growing ever since he met him and he never got many opportunities, like this one, to show him how he really felt about him.

They finally parted ways to create a plan. Lucas' cheeks were a bright red, and Ness kept giggling to himself every time he glanced at Lucas.

"Ness, I'm sorry that my face is still red. I just wish we could've stayed together longer..."

"I do too, but we have to get this thing in motion. I don't really care what we do; it can be as minor as a sign, or something to scare the socks off of him."

"Let's mess with him, since he's always doing it to me..."

Claus bursts into the room, and screams, which makes Lucas jump off the ground and nearly wet himself.

"Ha, got you again. So, where's the punishment I was promised?"

"I'm still working on it. Ness is helping out, if that's fine..."

"The bet didn't say anything about it, so he's good."

Ness waves, but turns back to the cupboard. Claus leaves the room, laughing to himself on the way out. Lucas walks to the door and slams it shut.

"Find anything hot, and I mean really hot. He's gonna pay for scaring me..."

"I wanna get back at him too, so I'm gonna film it, and put it online."

"Don't let him see you filming though."

"I know, that's gonna be the fun part."

Lucas enters the kitchen and looks for anything that would aid in the punishment. Once he was finished looking, he began making a meal. It was an omelet, the twins' favorite dish, but he stuffed it full of peppers and hot sauce. He called Claus back in, and waited. The orange-haired boy came in and the aroma of the food made his mouth water. He was ready to dig in once he sat down, but Lucas stopped him.

"This is your punishment, Claus. You are to eat the entire thing, without drinking anything."

"Pfft, easy."

Claus cuts a piece of the omelet off, and shoves it into his mouth. Everything is fine at first, until the heat kicks in. His eyes begin watering profusely and his mouth feels like it's on fire.

"Wh-What the hell did you put in this thing?!"

"Just a few peppers and a lot of hot sauce. Eat up, bro; I bet you're hungry after all that fighting."

"I didn't do anything after I got knocked out of the tournament. God, I can barely feel my tongue."

Claus ignores the pain as he keeps putting pieces of the omelet in his mouth. One by one, they go down his throat and he's done.

"OK, you're done. Ness, go get him something."

Ness comes back with a big glass of milk, and Claus swipes it out of his hands and chugs it. It doesn't fully get rid of the heat, but it makes him feel a lot better.

"Wow, you really kicked my ass with that one. I'm ready to go home now."

Lucas runs forward to his brother and wraps his arms around him. "It was nice having you here for a week. I'll miss you though..."

Claus pats his brother on the back. "I'll tell dad you miss him."

"Th-Thank you." Lucas steps back from the hug and walks over to Ness' side. "Goodbye."

Claus exits the room, and walks to the front doors.

(Well, this is goodbye. I'll try and visit again sometime soon, but no promises.) Claus looks back and sees all the people walking around doing their everyday things. (I'm gonna miss all of you. The food was great, and the personalities were greater. Nothing great can last, sadly, and this is one of them. Dad, I'll be back in a while since the walk home takes forever. Goodbye, Smash Mansion, and keep things nice for me when, and if, I eventually do come back. Stay strong, Lucas... I'm praying for you.)

Claus goes past the doors and out onto the green. He walks to the sunset, and doesn't stop until he reaches Tazmily. Lucas yearns for the day he can go home, but he has to stay at the Mansion. He grabs Ness' hand gently and keeps it in his until their faces meet again. One last kiss for the night, then they slept. Things stayed calm under the glowing moon, and they'd never be the same after that day.