A Walk Among Giants, Chapter 19: Devil's may care
Yeah this is back, and with the whole lockdown situation going on it be good to have some reading material ey. Oh who am I kidding no one goes "Oh boy i'm gonna READ today for fun!"
Unless of course you are like the 1% who actually find entertainment in literature during these times. In which case I tip my nonexistent hat to you, you absolute madlad.
Special thanks to:
Girithal: yeah, i noticed, thing is idk who that is…
(I'm gonna get my head chewed off for that aren't I…)
Theshadoawstarr23: lemme just start by saying, ayyye its good to see you again! And I sincerely wish to thank you for your kind words. And yeah it reached me alright. And I hope I can continue to enlighten and entertain you.
"ARGH WHAT THE FU-" Dark Pit suddenly sprang up from his bed wielding his swords in a panic and looking around frantically.
"What's wrong with you now?" Lucina groaned as she sat up in her bed rubbing her eyes. He just looked around dumbfounded, wielding his swords in pajamas and fluffy slippers it was truly a sight to behold. Of course he still had his memory from last night, so he was utterly confused to see the room completely un-trashed and Lucina sitting in her bed just fine.
"The thing… And the window… the gas…?" He says slowly looking around while slowly lowering his weapons. He was so lost and the look on his face was priceless. He placed his bow together and strapped it to his back and just headed out without a word.
Lucina of course lost it and was completely face first into her pillow howling with laughter. She knew fixing up the room before he woke up would have been worth it in the morning. He had inhaled so much gas that he was out cold. She made sure of it even going as far as to put him into some silly pajamas and getting him some slippers. Although she thanked everything that's holy that he didn't open the curtain because the window was still shattered. Although Roy assured her he was going to fix it somehow…
It was very early in the morning so barely anyone was up. She freshened up for the day with new energy and a new spirit. Instead of moping around and sulking about what was she is going to focus on what will be. It was time to put the spring back into her step.
She opens the door and sees Dark Pit looking around the hallway very carefully. "Are you ok, did you hit your head or eat something rotten?" She said as she crossed her arms and leaned against the wall.
"Something is NOT right!" He says looking around completely stumped. He was so preoccupied that he still hadn't noticed his new attire.
"Yooo Pittoo nice gear bro!" Roy said enthusiastically as he passed by. And only then did he notice his new killer outfit. Worst yet, yeah the pajamas and slippers were bright pink.
"What the hell?!" He exclaims and rips them off, throwing them on the floor and stomping on them. He fixes his toga and heads off in a confused and angered state.
"OW! what was that for?!" They heard Pit whine down the hall.
"Got em!" Lucina exclaimed excitedly as she and Roy high fived. "Yeah sabotage the shower again you little-" she whispered to herself
"What was that?" Roy said and she waved him off.
"Nothing, but you still need to keep your promise, everything is still broken in there. It's actually a miracle he didn't touch anything." She says as he nods and heads inside the room looking around and whistling to himself.
She heads to the elevator and gets in pressing the button to the ground floor. The doors open up and to no one's surprise Robin is there waiting as the doors open up. They both stand there in awkward silence as time ceased to exist at that moment. Although the tension could be felt from a mile away.
"Hey…" Robin simply mumbles, finally breaking the silence. Lucina just steps back and scoffs at his poor attempt at communication.
"That's it?!" She says while crossing her arms. "You've been avoiding me for months now and all you can say is "HEY" really?" She retorts while he just slowly sighs.
"What do you want me to say" he says while she shakes her head vigorously.
"I don't know, maybe start by explaining why you decided to not only hurt me immensely and break my spirit, but also why you never explained yourself or you know, own up to your decision!" she berated him while he shifted uncomfortably and looked down at the floor. "Really, nothing!" She exclaims "nothing at all?!" She exasperated in disbelief.
"You needed to hear what I said," he finally spoke. "I said what I said because you wouldn't have listened otherwise, or at the very least understand." He said to her as she clenched her fists.
"That's your excuse?" She breathed out slowly. "Then if you truly believe that then why don't you look at me." She asks while he turns around with a heavy sigh. "You can't even look me in the eyes and admit that you were wrong in what you did and you know it!" She exclaims.
"I stand by my statement" he says as he begins to walk away from her.
"Thats horseshit!" She rushes after him getting in his way and shoving him backwards.
"Why are you doing this, why can't you just let this go," he sighs while adjusting his coat.
"Because you shrugged me off without a second thought, and I never got an explanation let alone an apology for your lack of empathy or even consideration of my feelings." She breathed out past the lump in her throat.
"I already explained myself to you but you just can't accept the truth!" he retorts, finally looking her in the eyes. He expected her expression to soften but it seemed to twist more than anything into a hardened angered look.
"You know out of everyone, I thought you would be the only one to never hurt me. And as it turns out you are the one who ended up hurting me in the worst way possible." She said as she shoved him again. "And now you are telling me you did so because you think I'm thickheaded!" She continues as she shoves him again putting more force into it. "You honestly stand by your statement claiming that it's because I'm some sort of moron!" She exclaims in an angry huff and rushes at him to shove the tactician again. Only this time he takes a hold of her arms and pins her to the wall. This time being face to face with her.
"I said that the faster I step out of your life the less you'll ever be pained or plagued by the likes of me again. Yet you continue to insist that there is no logic to my actions like I'm some sort of heartless monster. There was never anything between us and there never will be, that is all there is to it nothing more." He tells her as she glared up at him while huffing.
"And you continue to say it like you never cared, let alone felt any ounce of remorse or sympathy." She breathed out while he slowly inched his face away.
"It's not that, I-" he began but she just cut him off.
"I don't wanna hear it anymore so you know what, blow me!" She says as she broke free from his hold and walked away from him. He just adjusted his coat again with a heavy sigh, this was not how he wanted his morning to go at all.
*later*
Lucina was eating her breakfast or at least trying to, while everyone around her stared at her as if they were trying to read her like a book. Of course everytime she looked up the others would awkwardly look away from her. She picked up her cup and took a sip of her coffee and looked up to see everyone staring again. She sets her cup down while swallowing the coffee. "Ok what's wrong with everybody today?" She asks as the other girls just look at one another.
"We could actually ask you the same thing" Peach spoke up while the others nodded.
"Why is that?" Lucina responds confused.
"Well probably because the last few months you haven't been out of your room much. Then all of the sudden here you are…" Raven responds while again everyone else nods.
"Oh trust me ladies those are bygones, I could care less of what some greasy coat wearing ape thinks." She says while shrugging and taking a bite out of a bacon strip?
"I mean we're all happy for you but the sudden overnight 180 is still puzzling." Rosalina adds while slowly stroking a luma in her hands.
"Well let's just say I had an epiphany" Lucina says while taking a sip of her coffee. "Did we get a new type of vanilla?" She says while staring down at her cup of coffee, "something seems different."
"Oh trust me it's not just the coffee that underwent a sudden dramatic change from out of the blue." Raven adds as she gets up to toss her tray away. Peach then suddenly places the back of her hand on Lucina's forehead just in case.
"Would you guys stop being so weird, im fine ok" she says as she gets up to toss her empty tray.
"I think we have a case of a bodysnatcher or some sort of mind controlling worm cause that was not normal!" Raven says as she sits back down at the table and they all watch Lucina walk out the door.
"Well I mean it has been almost 5 or so months now right?" Zelda says while they all look at one another.
"Yeah but I'm still going to keep a really close eye on her" Raven states as she leaned back in her chair in thought.
"Psychologically speaking, and of course totally theoretically, there could have been some sort of event that caused her mentally to snap and change drastically in response." Samus said as she looked over some schematics of her suit. This however caused everyone to turn and look at her with worrying expressions. "Still, it could also be as she stated and she has had a revelation of sorts that has cleared her conscience" Samus adds while they all murmur to themselves.
*later*
"May I ask what you are doing on the roof?" Zelda said having just teleported herself to the very tip of the massive mansion.
"When I said I was going to watch her like a Hawk I meant it!" Raven responded as she was squatted on the edge of the roof with a spyglass. "Yeah I'm going to be the first to crack this case wide open!" She proclaims to herself as she jotted down some notes in a book.
"Well normally I wouldn't get involved in unusual shenanigans, however this time I can't say I'm more than a little compelled." Zelda says as she takes a seat next to Raven atop the roof. "So do you actually have anything yet?" Zelda asks as she skimmed through the tactician's notes.
"Nothing too extraordinary as of yet, however she seems to be very dedicated and focused on decapitating those practice dummies in the training fields no-one uses anymore." She responds as she looks through her spyglass again.
"Why is she putting that hay wig on them?" Zelda asks as she tries to make out the things that are way below them.
"That I couldn't figure out, however she did make those rather enthusiastically before she began." Raven responds as she gasps.
"What happened?!" Zelda says, trying to see what happened.
*Lucina*
She swings her sword at the dummy and splits the head wide open while she frustratingly pants. She lets go of her weapon and sits on the ground while panting from exhaustion. She grabs her water bottle as she swings her head back and chugs the thing. She tosses it aside and leans back looking at the pile of wooden heads littered on the floor in odd satisfaction. She then notices that the dummy started ruffling a little bit which makes her sit up a bit.
Suddenly it burst as Dark Pit came rushing at her and pinned her to the floor with his swords crossed at her neck. "You're getting sloopy blue" he scoffs as he retrieves his weapons. "Oh who am I kidding you've lost your touch long ago" he just simply shrugs with a grin.
"Yeah well why don't you try that when I'm ready huh?" she retorts as she gets up and retrieves her sword.
"Excuses, excuses blue!" He says as he begins to walk away whistling. "Now are you ready to train or do you wanna keep playing with your dolls there." He says while she just groaned and followed. "By the way, you do know you were being watched right?" He says motioning towards the roof with his head. She turns and sees something disappear in a gust of wind. And of course Raven quickly lowered herself out of sight.
"Well now I'm going to have to explain a few things…" She whispers to herself with a long sigh.
*Later*
"You got the stuff?" Stranger #1 said as he sat down on a bench behind a large water fountain.
"Yeah I got the stuff, you got the cash?" Stanger #2 said as he looked around.
"Yeah I got the cash, got the stuff" #1 says as he pulls out a pouch of smash coins.
"Alright here you go" #2 says as he pulls out a bag of grilled chicken. "Pleasure doing business!" He adds as he pockets the coins. #1 puts the chicken in his trench coat and casually walks away.
A shorter man in a trench coat with a fedora and sunglasses sits at the bench. "You-a got-a the stuff?" He says while he pulls out a large pouch of coins.
"I got what you ordered" the other guy responds as he pulls out a bag with marinated meatballs and hands it over. "You know you are the last person I ever expected to be here" he says as he leans back and adjusts his trench coat.
"Well if I have-a to eat one more bowl of-a steamed vegetables, im-a going to lose it!" The short man exclaims before walking off.
"Yeah yeah, no arguments here whatever brings in the dough" Roy says as he leans back on the bench and adjusts his sunglasses. Suddenly there was a puff of smoke from behind him and he felt something cold on his neck.
"I've been watching you" the distinct voice said "now let's talk business" she said while Roy just grinned.
*meanwhile*
"This is so stupid…" Lucina groaned as she slumped down on a bench in the training room.
"Yeah now you're getting it!" Dark Pit pipes up as he straps his bow to his back.
"We've been here for hours and all you've taught me was not give a crap!" She says as she laid back on the bench and groaned.
"Well I mean the only reason you fell so hard was because you were holding on too tight." He says as he ends the simulation turning the room a bright white again.
"Yeah yeah, grabbing the rope too tightly does more damage than just letting it go." She waved him off while she sighed. Not too soon afterwards the lunch bell rang throughout.
"Well after lunch we can begin working on that pathetic technique you call combat," he says as he walks out the door.
"Yeah cause falling off the stage cause your little chicken wings ran out of power doesn't contribute to our poor performance" she says as she follows suit.
"Heh you're coming along nicely" he says as he jumps down the stairs.
"Yeah there is this thing called an elevator genius!" She calls down from above. "This guy" she says to herself as she walks away.
When she entered the mess hall everyone looked like a downer. Well that's because a few months ago the menu was changed dramatically due to a certain meeting among the Elite Six that happened a while ago. Everything was replaced with a more nutrient and healthy alternative, courtesy of the suggestions from the Wii Fit Trainers.
Although most of the Smashers were not so enthusiastic about the new menu. New breakfast items included 100% wheat toast with avocado, egg whites, potato pancake, unsweetened oatmeal, nut and grapes bowl, oats, tofu bacon. Fruit and yoghurt cup. Sweet potato bowl, a salad bowl, and lastly a tofu breakfast burrito. Although the drink selection didn't take a huge downturn tho, there was freshly squeezed orange juice, various smoothies, and unsweetened tea, but all the coffee creamers were replaced with non-dairy and unsweetened replacements.
The lunch menu however consisted of a tofu burger, large salad bowl, vegetable pizza, steamed broccoli and cauliflower bowl, lentil soup, no-tuna salad sandwich, steamed white rice, chili bowl with no meat, and lastly a vegetable burrito bowl. The drinks consist of green tea, or a bottle of water.
And lastly dinner, roasted veggie pasta with white beans, Cauliflower and Potato Casserole, lentil curry with white rice, cream of mushroom soup, beetroot soup, roasted green beans, veggie pot pie, and lastly grilled watermelon steak, with tea and water for beverages.
Lucina grabbed herself a slice of veggie pizza and a cup of tea and went to go sit with the swordsman. Which surprise, surprise their manners have changed drastically since last time. Meaning now they weren't devouring their food like a pack of hungry wolves, but instead taking slow and steady bites of the food.
"Man how long will this punishment last!" Ike breathed out with a sad sigh looking at his tofu burger. "This isn't food, this is the stuff that food eats!" He says while he opened up the burger and put a sludge of ketchup on it.
"Stay strong men, these dark days will soon be past us and we will feast like kings again!" Shulk speaks up while raising a spoon in the air, before slowly dipping it in his soup.
"It wasn't so bad at first, but every day now?" Pit whined as he sadly looked at his sandwich.
"I mean shit I wouldn't even punish Ganondorf with this stuff, that's just cruel, cruel I say!" Link adds as he slowly ate his rice.
"I'm getting tired of chilli," Roy says as he scoops up another bite.
"I think you guys are overreacting. The food isn't that bad," Marth says as he gleefully ate his burrito bowl. The others responded by throwing things in his general direction. "Oh yeah real mature guys!" Marth protests as he crosses his arms while he receives looks of disapproval.
"You know, you are on the Six mate, how could you let this happen?!" Shulk says while slowly shaking his head with a tisk.
"Hey if you want to start pointing fingers don't forget Link was also there!" Marth protests while jabbing a finger at said hylian. At which case the glares all turned to his direction.
"Oh yeah throw me under the bus why don't you!" Link says as he crossed his arms with a huff.
"Well yeah man, like dude the hell is this?" Ike says wiggling tofu in his face.
"I'm curious though, what exactly is this?" Lucina speaks up in which case everyone just blankly stares at her. "What?" She says looking around and then at herself. "Is there something on my face?" She says picking up a large spoon to see her reflection in it.
"How long have you been there?" Pit speaks up as he scratches his head in confusion.
"Yeah you just magically poofed here out of nowhere" Ike said while the others just nodded along.
"Guys she has been sitting here for the last 30 minutes," Marth states while they look back and forth then simply shrug.
"Yeah but why?" Shulk asks. "I mean it's good to see you out and about, but why so suddenly out of the blue?" He adds to which the others nod along.
"Not you guys as well…" She groaned to herself as she slumped her shoulders.
"Well word has it she had an epiphany, a great revelation that showed her a light that had been there all along but she couldn't see." Roy speaks up as he takes a sip of his tea and forces it down. "Gosh giddy goo, that is still sour as all hell" he says with a scrunched up face.
"Yeah we heard but like, it's just so sudden which kinda raises more questions to be honest." Link said while again the others nodded too.
"Why is it so hard for everyone to believe I'm better now, is like 5-6 months not enough?" Lucina protested with an exaggerated shrug.
"No but, but" Shulk begins but couldn't find the words.
"I mean we made a small bit of progress but then it's like you just started taking giant leaps instead of steps," Marth speaks up this time while she just sighed.
"Look I'm fine ok, why is it so hard for everyone to wrap their head around it?!" She exclaims and just simply gets up and leaves.
"Well ok then but then that also raises the problem of, what in the living hell is this man!" Ike protests as he wiggles a piece of tofu in Marth's face.
Lucina goes and sits with the other ladies who go silent as she sits down. "Yeah I'm here again what about it!" She states frustratingly but they all just kinda raise their hands and scoot away.
Before anyone could say anything they heard the sound of a loud engine starting up. The next second Ness screamed as he took off into the ceiling at full force. Toon snickered while Ness's legs kicked around furiously as his upper body was lodged into the ceiling
"O-k then…" Zelda says as they all turn around again.
"So any big plans today, old buddy old pal you?" Raven speaks up while patting Lucina on the shoulder awkwardly.
"Yeah just going to do some training, and catch up on a few things" Lucina responds with a shrug taking a sip of tea.
"Sounds... exciting," Peach says awkwardly.
"This training wouldn't require any unusual acts of violence by any chance?" Snow said as Lucina gave her a puzzled look.
"Um, no, not that I'm aware of?" She responds while she takes a sip of tea.
"Have you been having trouble sleeping?" Zelda asks as she leans forward resting her chin on her fist.
"Actually, sleep is the one thing that hasn't been affected by any past or present predicament." She states taking a bite of the pizza.
"And do you ever feel the need to physically harm yourself or others?" Raven asks as she jotted down things in a book.
"Ok what's going?" Lucina sighs heavily while running her hands down her face.
"Well I think it would be best if you gave this a look" Rosalina responds as she hands her a book for people with the mentality of a psychopath.
"Um, I don't see the point you guys are trying to make here?" She says looking at the book back and forth with a raised eyebrow.
"Well you see according to this book and the symptoms you've been showing, which I acquired from some field work." Raven began as she finished scribbling and put her book aside.
"I'm going to stop you right there," Lucina intervenes while slowly sliding the book back towards Raven. "And I'm going to quell all your conspiracies, while also explaining the concept of an epiphany!" She says while making dramatic hand gestures.
*later*
"So this is all because of a supposed crazy dream you had where you, once again might I add, try to change the events of the past only to come to the realization that what happened was not coincidence. But in fact, a revelation that it was for the best as it would have caused a dramatic shift in the story?" Raven says while puzzlingly looking at her scribbled notes.
"Yeah pretty much" Lucina just simply shrugs.
"And the 'story' is just an abbreviation for your life thus far?" Zelda asks while Lucina just nods.
"Look things happen for a reason, though it might seem like it might be the end of the world. If you stop and ponder about it and look below the surface you might find the true answers. Sometimes 'bad' things happen but you might notice that it could potentially heal old wounds, fix what has been broken. Though the pieces will never truly be whole again as long as they hold up it's all that matters. When death comes it's just an opportunity for new life. Sometimes the 'bad' thing isn't what we make it to be, the truth is that maybe it causes such big dramatic changes and that's what scares us. Change can be scary and if everything starts changing around us we will no longer get that feeling of security. Because what we know and what we expect there to be will no longer be the case. Moving forward has always been something that greatly frightens us, as it is far easier to just hold on to what we are used to already." She finished as everyone around her looked stunned.
"And I thought I was endowed with the power of wisdom!?" Zelda speaks up in utter shock.
"I guess it seems we were the ones who refused to accept the change…" Peach said while looking down at her cup and tapping her fingers on it.
"So I take it then we can all confidently move forward then?" Lucina breathed out as she relaxed and sat back in her chair. all the other ladies however murmured a 'yes' while slowly nodding their heads.
At that point Master Hand poofs into the center of the mess hall and claps his hands to get everybody's attention. "Well now I've got some news, good or bad depending on who you are." He says taking a piece of paper out and extending it to the point it reached the floor and kept going a bit. He then pulls some small classes from his front pocket and places them on his face/palm. "Now lets see here, ah yes. So as we all know the Six have made the wise decision a while ago to improve the smashers dietary needs to improve performance. While it seemed to work it first it still seems like some of you are still lacking. Lately I notice duos who are exceptionally well start dropping in performance. We've already worked out the kinks with tolerance, now we need to work on endurance. So immediately after Lunch I have organised a large event for you all to partake in of course to check your endurance." He says as he skims through the paper quickly before clearing his throat.
"So the activity will be a triathlon, which will consist of a running start, then swimming, and lastly motor skills or in simple terms bike riding. Duos who do exceptionally poorly in this will be placed in a strict probation to get you lot sorted out. Now this is however still a super smash brothers tournament after all so naturally of course combat is still optional, and highly recommended if you want to succeed." He finished as he rolled up the little piece of paper and placed it back in his pocket along with his glasses. With that he puffed out once more while the room stayed silent. He then poofs back in before anyone could react however. "One last thing I forgot to mention, both you AND your partner will have to make it to the end to succeed. You will all have a stamina meter that will drain with combat, should your meter run out you will be respawned at a checkpoint which could potentially set you and your partner back. And of course KOing opponents could give you and your partner an advantage over other duos, that is all." And now with that he poofs away again but his time for good.
"Well this will be interesting" Lucina thought to herself as everyone started chatting excessively now.
*a short while later*
Everyone was out front in a tracksuit talking amongst their groups waiting for MH. He eventually does show up, in a tracksuit of his own as well. "Alright Smashers let the triathlon begin!" He proclaims as he snaps his fingers and a portal sucks them all in.
They all appear standing in front of what seemed to be a long stretch of road, leading and eventually going through a jungle. They hear a loud gunshot in which case everyone just started to beat the crap out of each other…
"What are you imbeciles doing, run!" HM exclaims before slumping his shoulders with a long dramatic sigh.
"RRRAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH" Ike lets out a war cry as he was coming down on Lucina full force. She sidesteps as Ike's boots crashed into the ground with a loud stomp.
"So that's how you want to play it!" She says to herself as she rushes at him and kicks him on his chest with both feet. He yelps in surprise as he falls backwards onto the ground.
"This is one thing I REFUSE to let you beat me at!" He says as he scrambles to his feet.
"Really you're still on about that!" She exclaims as he rushed at her like a charging bull but she easily side stepped.
"You defiled my honor!" he breathes out as he was now making wild attempts to grab her.
"You're crazy!" She shouts as he grabs her head and begins to put force into it. She notices the little bar on the watch of shorts on her wrist begin to drop, (imagine a apple watch look alike) she had to do something before she dropped. Using his arms to gain momentum she moved her lower-body upwards and delivered a kick right to his jaw. Ike let go of her and stumbled backwards again, although he didn't fall this time. He began trying to pummel her with both his fists clenched together, surely an attack like that would considerably lower her bar.
"I've been waiting for the perfect time to get you back, and would you know fate smiled upon me today!" He says as he cracked his knuckles getting in a fighting stance.
"It was just a stupid game!" She protests while he just frustratingly grunts. "Ok you wanna do this, let's do this!" She says as she gets into a fighting stance as well.
Meanwhile, out of nowhere a loud and audible "you're too slow!" Was heard across the field. Sonic was dashing away from the chaos seeing an opening to get a head start while everyone was distracted. Out of nowhere he hears a loud and angry grunt and see's Captain Falcon come running after him at full speed. He does a short girly scream and speeds up off into the jungle. When others notice they all begin charging into the jungle as well albeit while still brawling.
"You can have your stupid title back for all I care!" Lucina exclaims trying to get Ike off her back, who of course was just sitting there with his arms crossed like a big child.
"Pfft, you think I'm stupid, those rare and extraordinary titles must be earned!" He says as he begins hopping up and down, slowly squashing her in the process. She could feel air being forced out of her with every bounce and of course it was taking a toll on her bar. The problem was she couldn't do much being face first into the ground with a big lug on top of her. With her bar now on yellow she had to think fast, and as soon as he lifted himself off to get momentum to go back down she quickly made her move. She rolled out from under him and the lack of Lucina there made him stumble backwards unto the ground with all his momentum. Before he could get back up however she gave him a hard shove putting all her might into it, and wouldn't you know it he ended up stumbling all the way backwards and off the high up cliff they happened to be on.
"This isn't ooooooover!" He exclaims as he disappears out of sight. She leans on her knees while trying to catch her breath. She turns around and sees the massive dust cloud in the distance, which of course was the large group of smashers running and brawling. She sighs as she begins to jog after them in hopes of catching up and hopefully passing the cloud without any unfortunate encounters. As she is halfway there she hears a loud whoosh and sees a platform appear. And wouldn't you know it Ike was on it refreshed and new. A little holographic screen appears before him showing him his stats. And because of his unfortunate fall he was now at -1 points.
"I have negative points?!" He exclaims as he lands on the ground. "You gave me negative points?!" He begins to screech and make loud aggressive grunts like some sort of ape and begins to charge after her. Seeing this she just turned around and booked it. Her hopes now where to make it to the jungle and lose the manic behind her in the foliage. Checking her wrist she indeed saw now that she had 1 point. Knowing how much distance she was keeping between them was relatively easy considering Ike was making all kinds of sounds like a maniac.
When she eventually reached the trees instead of taking the path she went into the trees and bushes. Knowing how big and clumsy Ike was he'd surely get lost in there. At least he was helping her make progress as she could audibly hear the sounds of battle now. A bright explosion of light soon erupted somewhere around the battlefield meaning someone was just dropped.
She knew she had to keep her distance, with her bar on low yellow she knew she wouldn't last long in there at all. She suddenly hears a loud crack and sees a large tree falling towards her. She quickly jumps out of the way as it slams down into the ground. She picks herself up and dust herself off with a sigh of relief, at least that would slow down Ike. She must have lost him already because he was no longer audible anymore. Then again the raging battle on the road might have just drowned him out, it was that loud.
She sees a little green light blink profoundly on her watch. She pressed a button on the side of it and Dark Pit's voice came through. "Blue?" She heard him though through a bit of static.
"Pittoo?" She asks while raising the thing to her face.
"Where is your position, you are still alive right?" He asks as she tries to make out his voice through the commotion.
"Um, I'm like a few yards into the forest on the left side of the road." She says as she looked around at her surroundings, she knew where the road was due to the large dust cloud on the road.
"I mean like where on the map?" He says as she just blankly stares at her device.
"Um, what map?" She asks and hears him sighs obnoxiously loud.
"Nevermind, hold your position I'll find you on the map, partners can see each other's locations, DP out." He says and the line cuts as she leans over to try and catch her breath a bit.
"AHAAHAA!" she hears from above her but before she could react however, she felt a large pair of arms wrap around her. "You think you can outsmart me?" He says rather proudly with a scoff. "I'm Ike FREAKING Griel!" He proclaimed as he started to put more force into his hold completely crushing her like a boa constrictor would its prey.
"Ike… you… Freaking… Lunatic!" She breathes out as she struggles furiously in his hold. Shortly after her watch started beeping profusely as her bar was now really low and a deep red. "YOU BASTA-" She exclaimed before she exploded in a flash of light. Ike however just did a victory screech watching his score go from -1 to a 0.
She appears in another flash of light on a platform with a screen showing her results. Having the +1 go to a 0 and she just sighs frustratingly. She lands on the floor shortly after and with a new burst of energy she wasted no time in trying to catch up to the cloud in the distance.
"PK FLASH!" she hears Ness shout as he jumped in her way squatted down. He just looked constipated as he stood there grunting.
"Um, are you ok?" She says watching him struggling there.
"Hang on I got this!" He proclaims as he continues to squat and grunt. "PK-" He began but was launched into the air by a giant fist. She turns around and sees DK there looking rather grumpy. He didn't seem so thrilled to have been set back so far.
She wasted no time in getting away from that. However trying to escape a gorilla in a dense jungle isn't exactly ideal. She could hear him swinging above her and fast. She could hear him roar as he seemed to be coming down on her. Before he made contact however he was tackled out of the way by Charizard. They both stood up and wasted no time going in on each other in a fierce battle. She quickly left the site and let the giants duke it out. She could see the cloud just over a short pass in the distance, she was covering more ground than she had thought.
"There you are!" She hears Dark Pit as he comes out of the dense jungle, looking kinda rough. "You've been jumping all over the map Blue what the hell?" He says as he throws his arms up.
"It's a long story" she sighs while he just waves her off and they begin their jog towards the cloud.
"How is your stamina?" He asks while he looks at his watch, seeing his bar at like a high yellow.
"I was ambushed so I'm like at full stamina right now" She says while he just exhales while slowly shaking his head with a smirk.
"Why am I not surprised" he says while she just kinda sweat dropped.
"Well, it's not my fault that we are in this with a bunch of unpredictable maniacs." She exhales as they start coming up on the rear of the cloud.
"Well be ready for the battle of your life, keep a close eye on your sides I got your back!" He says as the sound of the battle starts getting more audible.
"Wouldn't it be easier just to go around?" She says as she can now visibly start making out the figures in the cloud.
"No the jungle has really rough terrain and is more unpredictable, you'll tire yourself out just trying to cut ahead of the curve, besides I saw Dark Link drown in tarpit earlier, so it's best to stick to the path." He says as at this point dust started to fill their surroundings.
"INCOMING!" Lucina exclaims as they see Bowser come stumbling towards them. How the hell someone managed to trip the heaviest smasher is a mystery. However it was very coordinated as he managed to take out a good chunk of smashers by literally crushing them. Lucina managed to throw herself off to the side to avoid while Dark Pit jumped over him.
"What are you doing, get up before you get trampled!" Dark Pit quickly exclaims helping her to her feet. They hear a loud roar and see Bowser come furiously stomping towards them. "Go!" DP yells and they both start running away from the rampaging terrapin. They both catch up to a random Raven and Shulk running up ahead.
"Oh hey Lucy how's it going?" she cheerfully asks the panicked bluenette.
"I would say good but you should have a look behind you!" She says in a panic as Raven takes a look behind them and sees the raging Bowser rampaging towards them.
"Holy shit!" She exclaims picking up pace while also nudging her partner to go faster.
"What's the hurry?" Shulk says while looking behind them. "Holy mother of Master Hand!" He screams while furiously picks up pace.
"Shulk pace yourself or you're going to tire yourself out!" Raven calls out to him as he was in a mass panic at the moment.
"Did you happen to see what back there that thing is catching up!" He exclaims as they could start to hear Bowser's snarls.
"We need a plan to get him off our back!" DP says while looking around at the surroundings for anything to use as an advantage.
"Come on Rave, now's the time to kick that brain of yours into overdrive!" Shulk exclaims as he was still furiously keeping his pace above them.
"I can't focus under so much pressure, there's too much going on!" She breathes out while looking behind her. "Guys he's catching up!" She states in a panic.
"Don't look back, focus on the path ahead!" DP calls out as he keeps nudging Lucina forward when she tries to look back.
"OH FU-" Shulk screams as he loses his footing and falls face first into the dirt.
"Shulk!" Raven exclaims as she stopped dead in her tracks to help her partner.
"Raven what are you doing?!" Lucina calls out as Raven begins to head towards them.
"I can't leave him behind, go we'll probably buy you time!" She says shoving Lucina forward as she rushed towards her partner. But it was too late Bowser reached him in an instant and crushed him with his full weight. Shulk disappears in an explosion of light as he screams like a little girl.
"Keep moving!" DP says as he grabs Lucina by the arm dragging her away. Bowser gets up from his initial attack and spots Raven rushing towards him. He gets up and lets out a roar before charging at her head first. He smashes into her and slams her into a tree making it fall to the ground, Followed of course by an explosion of light.
"We could've helped!" Lucina protested while DP just scoffed.
"That kind of mentality will get you dropped out here!" He states while she just sighed frustratingly. At least Raven was right as it seemed Bowser was no longer on their trail. They soon hear a loud ding coming from both their watches.
"We've reached the first checkpoint, we should be a third of the way there." Dark Pit says while he pulls out a holographic map.
"Hiya suckers!" They hear from above as DTL lands in front of them from the trees.
"Get out of my way you little shit!" DP says while the little hylian just giggled and took out a small box.
"But I come bearing gifts!" He states with a massive grin on his face.
"Duck!" DP says tackling Lucina to the floor as a giant boxing glove on the spring flew over them.
"Hey that's not fair!" Lucina exclaims making DTL cackle like a maniac.
"All fair in love and war!" He yells excitingly as he sends the thing hurling towards her. The giant thing strikes her dead in the chest sending her flying backwards. She struggled to get to her feet as all the air was knocked out of her.
"And it's out of the stadium!" DTL cheers as he dances around in victory. "Don't think I forgot about you!" He calls out as he turns around and fires his projectile at DP. Lucina starts to slowly get back up on her feet again looking at her watch, seeing her bar now an orange hue. DP was trying to outmaneuver DTLs projectile leaving him open from the back. Lucina took the opportunity and rushed at him tackling the dark hylian to the floor.
"Get off me you lug!" He protests while she holds him down.
"Lets see how you like it!" She says as she grabs his box and aims it at him. Before she could fire however she was tackled off of him. She turns around to find Sonic there with a cheeky smirk on his face.
"Tsk, tsk, you're too slow!" He says bouncing the box in his hands. Dark Pit tries to get the hedgehog but he moves out of the way quickly. He uses the box on him while keeping his distance as well with his speed.
"Hold still you little!" Dark Pit exclaims while trying to catch him.
"Wholololo!" DTL screams as he jumps on Lucina's head blocking her view and making her run into things.
"Get it, get it off me!" She yells while struggling with the little hylian on her head.
"Jockey on Lucina!" They hear from above and DTL is shot off of her. Toon Link leaps off of one of the trees landing in front of DTL "Thought you could escape me huh!" He proclaims while he blows on his slingshot. Capt Falcon bursts out of the bushes and goes after Sonic who squeals and takes off leaving the box behind. Took Link picks it up and approaches DTL who was slowly getting up while rubbing his head. Toon Link approaches him and places his foot on his chest. "Sweet dreams dark prince," Toon exhales while punching DTLs face through the floor, making him explode in a flash of lights. He turns around with the box at Lucina who prepared herself. However he just simply pocketed it. "We're even" he says with the nod of his head, "for now!" He finished as he took out a vine whip and leaped away into the jungle.
Dark Pit was sitting up from taking a hit to the back of the head. "Where is that freak!" He says scrambling to his feet
"Taken care of" Lucina states as she motions him to follow as she continues down the path. "This place is full of surprises, I just hope it's smooth sailing from here" she sighs as she looks at her wrist seeing her bar a bright yellow. She looks over at DP seeing his bar at a dark orange now.
Not too soon they hear another beep of their watches. "Ok we're at the halfway point now" DP says as they continue to jog along, they had to still be cautious as the cloud was still very much there and making visibility limited. Although they couldn't really hear anyone anymore they still needed to remain vigilant.
"I can't wait to be out of this jungle" Lucina sighs as she blows some of her bangs out of her face. They see several flashes of light up ahead, seeming a big battle is happening ahead.
"Ah shit, here we go again!" Dark Pit remarks as they are coming up on the battle sight. "Wait, wait wait!" Dark Pit says as he begins to slow down and holds out his arm to halt her. "I don't want to sound cliche but it's too quiet for a battleground," he says while carefully looking around their surroundings. "Ok keep low and try to stick to the side as much as possible" he says as they both carefully jog forward.
"I don't like this, something bad is happening here" Lucina states while looking behind her. A strong feeling of dread just washed over here all of the sudden. When she turned back around DP was completely gone making her halt in her path. She goes on ahead looking around for any signs of him but there was nothing. That is until she looks up and sees him being hanged from a trap making her gasp. She sees someone moving from up above and then jump down. She knew who it was when she instantly saw that unmistakable silver hair. She cautiously prepared herself ready to attack the tactician, her best choice here is to free DP from the snare seeing as Robin was alone. Despite his fast thinking and cunning battle skills there would be no way he can take them booth.
She rushes him but despite this he made no movement whatsoever, he didn't even seem bothered that she was charging at him at all. Before she even reached him a large hand came from the foliage grabbing her by the throat. Ganondorf emerges from the dense jungle completely raising her off the floor with an evil smirk. "Your plan worked perfectly tactician" he says as Robin just stood stoically by and turned his back to them.
"Why don't you fight me yourself you coward!" Lucina breathed out at Robin as she flailed in Ganon's iron grip.
"This one is a feisty one" Ganon mused before he started tightening his grip on her. She could see her bar begin to slowly drop, but there wasn't much she could do. Ganon pretty much had a death grip on her that had no escape.
DP actually managed to get a hold of Robin with his legs, tightly wrapping them around the tactician. He managed to get the snare off and drop Robin to the floor. He jumps up and puts Ganon in a strong chokehold, making sure to lock his arms tightly around the gerudo. This of course caused him to drop Lucina and attempt to get the dark angel off his back. The bluenette drops to the floor gasping for air and coughing. Ganon backs up into a tree and smashes DP into it.
As Lucina begins to slowly get up to her feet again she sees Robin slowly getting up as well. She dashes at him but he scrambles to his feet and blocks her kick. She tries to make another move again but he moves behind her and moves his arms under hers and locks them behind her head, completely rendering her movements. He wasn't finished yet though as he began to slowly walk her towards a tar pit. When she eventually caught on with his plan she tried planting both her feet firmly on the ground to hinder his movement. However he simply kicked her feet from under her and continued to drag her to her demise. "Forgive me Lucina, but we are in a tournament after all." He says at the edge of the pit before shoving her forwards. She managed to grab his sleeve however and drag him along. They both fell in with a loud splash and began to quickly sink into the pit. She struggled to get out but to no avail there was nothing around her to help her propel herself out.
She sees Robin grab onto a branch and slowly starts to drag himself out. He makes brief eye contact with her before he throws the branch her way. She caught it before it struck her however and used it to get herself out. "That was a very stupid thing to do?"She thought to herself as her legs slowly became free of the tar. She turns around to see Robin submerged to his chin now and he closes his eyes and accepts his fate. She slowly drags herself to more stable ground trying to catch her breath.
"TAH!" Ganon yells as he elbows a tree with full force uprooting it and causing it to slant a bit. Dark Pit had managed to move out of the way before he was struck. "I thought you'd be smart enough to understand by now, you have no way to beat me one on one and to hand." He states with a huff as he smirks preparing for his next attack.
"And I thought you'd understand by now, I'm not one to back down from a fight!" He fires back as he rears up and gets into battle stance. Ganon scoffs with a smirk on his face.
"That's admirable to say the least" he says before he charges at him with a shoulder charge which was countered with a karate chop to the throat. Which of course didn't seem to faze Ganon as much, "is that all?" The gerudo taunts as he aims a powerful kick at the dark angel. Dark Lit takes the opportunity to jump up into the air and use both his feet to kick Ganon on the chest. The gerudo stumbles backwards a bit before stabilizing himself. Before he can make another move against Dark Pit he is struck on the back with a large branch that shatters on impact. Lucina stumbles backwards in shock as the large gerudo turns to face her. She sees him rear his large fist back for a powerful attack while she is frozen in place. Before he strikes however she slides in between his legs and makes a run for it. He turns around and gives chase, but she doesn't make it very far however.
She ends up trapped in between some trees and places her back towards it as he approaches with a wicked smirk on his face. "NOW!" she yells as the smirk on his face disappears and he turns around. Dark Pit tackles the slanted tree making it fall over and slam down unto the gerudo. They both make their way towards the path again while trying to catch their breath.
It's not long before they hear rumbling and Ganon lifts the giant tree up and gets back up. He tosses it aside with a loud grunt as he cracks his neck. He spots the duo and slams a fist into his palm while making his way towards them. "You've got to be kidding me!" Lucina exclaims in disbelief seeing the large man is still combat ready despite recent events.
"Rush him!" Dark Pit calls out and they both dash at the gerudo and tackle him head on. Though they do manage to push him back a few feet it wasn't enough. He grabs them both by their face and slams them into the ground. He then lifts up his giant foot in the air to crush them, they roll away however before he brings it down. Before they can get away however he grabs them both by one foot and drags them back towards him. He raises his fists into the air and brings them down with all his might. They both scoot to the side as he slams the ground. They both then take a hold of one of his arms although they had no idea where they were going with this plan. He simply slams his arms together crushing them in between making them land at his feet. "NOW!" Dark Pit calls out and with every last ounce of strength they had left they both pull as hard as they can on his legs. He stumbles backwards, losing his footing and falling right into the tarpit.
They both fall to their knees breathing heavily. That was one battle that certainly took a toll on them. He emerges moments later however grunting loudly and trying to make his way out. At this point Lucina fully drops to the floor in defeat there was no way they had the energy to go another round with this beast of a man. "Go get to the next checkpoint," Dark Pit instructs as he places a hand on his shoulder while moving it around. "I'll meet you there as long as you make it there in one piece" he assures her as he begins to walk over towards Ganon.
"Wait what do you mean?" She says sitting and watching him leap into the air with a battle cry, he brings down both his hands clasped together unto the gerudo. With a loud splash they both disappeared below the surface, "Pittoo!" She screams as she rushes towards the edge of the pit. It bubbles a little before going completely still they were both gone. She slowly gets up checking her bar to see it near depleted and dark red. She takes one last look at the pit before she begins to make her way towards the next checkpoint.
Luckily for her it seemed most of the smashers were sprawled out all over the place as the cloud began to disperse. Not only that but also there were fewer or close to no encounters now. The fierce battles at the begging really started to thin out the hoard. She sees a shadow pass over her before Bowser lands directly in her path.
"You aren't escaping me in this competition!" He snarls as a large toothy grin spreads across his face.
"Not another vendetta!" She groans to herself internally. He picks up a large log and slams it down towards her making her jump out of the way. He picks it up again and swings it around as she drops to the floor to avoid the hit. He brings it down again but she rolls away and the thing snaps in half. He tosses the remains and begins swinging his claws at her.
It's not too long before they hear a loud roar from the jungle behind them, a flock of birds takes to the skies as the trees shake furiously. DK leaps out from the trees, as Bowser turns to face the new threat. They both lock eyes and prepare to charge at each other. Bowser lets out a roar as DK pounds on his chest before they charge at each other. Bowser slams DK into a tree and begins to punch him in the abdomen repeatedly. Lucina however springs to her feet and wastes no time fleeing the scene, as whoever comes out on top in that match will surely spell doom for her.
She hurries onward making her way up a rather large hill. When she makes it to the top she hears the beeping and is revitalized with new energy and stamina. She hears a woosh next to her and sees Dark Pit appear next to her with a smirk. "Wow you actually made it!" He says as with a smirk as he crossed his arms.
"Gee, don't sound too surprised," she replies as they look over the horizon.
"Now we just need to that lake lake over there and we've cleared the first level." He sighs as he takes a deep breath and continues onward motioning her to follow. They could see the path ahead was clear at this point the cloud had dispersed and they could see the many others who were making their way towards them. Although going downhill was far easier than trying to go uphill. And the lake didn't seem to be all too from their current checkpoint. Although the lake itself appeared to be massive, so massive that in fact the other shore wasn't visible.
When they finally reach the banks of the shore they hear their watches beep again, meaning they have reached a new check point. Not only that but their outfits changed from tracksuits to wetsuits. They began to make their way across the dock before a large holographic message appeared.
"Warning strong currents ahead, you better hope you are a good swimmer! -MH"
"Well it can't be any worse than what we've already been through right." Dark Pit shrugs before he runs ahead and dives into the water. He resurfaces and waits for Lucina to dive in but she just stood there frozen looking at the water. "What don't tell me you're afraid of the water?" He mocks with a large grin but she shakes her head vigorously.
"Don't be ridiculous I'm not a child!" She exclaims but just stood near the edge hugging the dock pole.
"Your words say one thing but your actions say another" he states with a pout and a shrug.
"I-I… Can't s-swim…" She squeals out while he sweat dropped.
"Are you shitting me right now?!" He protests while throwing his arms up.
"No, I am definitely not shitting you!" She responds with huff and sits on the dock.
"Well it's never too late to learn, we need to get this done, at least this one thing. Given our recent performance in other things hasn't been the best!" He explains while motioning her to jump in. However she just shakes her head profusely much to his annoyance. "Ok tell you what I can help ferry you across but you can't expect me to do all the work." He begins as he gets out of the water and sits next to her on the dock. "Just do as I say and we should be able to make it across just fine ok." He finished as he placed a hand on her shoulder as she took a deep breath.
"How can I be sure I can trust you?" She says as she still tightly grips the dock.
"Ever heard the story of the scorpion and the frog?" He asks while she turns to him with a horrified look.
"That is the worst example you could possibly bring up!" She protests as he scoffs and shakes his head.
"The thing is sometimes you have to take a leap of faith, besides I can't finish this if you are not there so I HAVE to make sure you make it no matter the cause." He assures her while she slowly nods her head and slowly scots towards the water.
"Ok, I'm ready" she says while taking deep breaths.
"Good, ladies first!" He responds and shoves her into the water making her yelp in surprise. He jumps in after her however while chuckling to himself. She surfaces seconds later with a loud gasp trying to stay afloat. "Ok first things first, stop panicking!" He says trying to calm her down.
"What the hell is your problem!" She exclaims while tightly gripping unto him.
"Well I mean, would you have jumped in otherwise?" He says with a smirk across his face.
"That's beside the point!" She fires back while he just throws his head back and laughs.
"Alright now place your arms around me, not too tight though I won't be able to move if you choke me out!" He explains as he wrapped her arms around him. She just nodded along as he began to slowly propel himself forward deeper into the lake. "You owe me so much for this" he sighs as he slowly continues forward. "Also while you are back there you could help me by kicking with your legs, it should give me more momentum to push forward" he says while she just slowly nods her head. "Oh boy this is going to be a long trip!" He says as he could feel her half panicked breaths.
*Meanwhile in an unknown location*
A loud stomp is heard as a warrior overlooks the surrounding from the large hill he just climbed. A large mansion loomed ahead and he tightened his bandana as he prepared his ascend. The wind quickly passed by rustling his white clothes as his bandana and belt swayed in the wind. It has been so long since he had a worthy challenge, surely this place will offer the thrill he's been seeking…
Alrighty then ladies and jets, that just about wraps up this chapter, and I hope to drop the next one over the weekend. Not promising anything because we all know I can't keep those…
Anyway I hope you all are staying safe out there, stay strong my fellow FF readers this will hopefully be behind us soon! Toodles! (*＾▽＾)／
Next Chapter: Dynasty…