A Walk Among Giants, Chapter 24: Flight or Fight
Yooooooo!
Oooooook…
Special thanks to:
UltimateCCC: Yes indeed that is something he has to come to terms with and face his inner demons head on!
Unboundedness: Eh not to worry there are still plenty more challenges to come, some that are more worthwhile than that.
TheShadowStarr23: Oh that's pretty late… I stayed up late writing that one though lol.
Thanks!
Oh trust me you haven't seen interesting yet!
Well not exactly the whole reason they just had a hand in the final decision… Uh yeah it's probably not as bad as you think, possibly. Sure thing Buddeh! ●ω●
Snow…
It had started to snow now. It had been getting colder over the last few days and it was now more apparent than ever of that fact. The once green lustrous fields of the mansion covered by a sheet of white.
The whole mess with the newcomer had been resolved nearly a day ago. Due to the perplexing nature of interdimensional travel and communication the new guy's invitation arrived later than usual. And of course delayed said arrival, so it was assumed he declined naturally. What made it a challenge was that this individual came from the same universe as Mega-Man although a different dimension in said universe. It's tricky trying to go there as there are a lot of repercussions. They call it the CAPCOM universe which is on another plane of existence from their own. As normally fighters are looked and called upon from their own place of existence which is easy enough. Now trying to extend yourself to another is… well, not as easy as it sounds in most cases. Bad enough that MH had his sights on a very well known individual from an even further reach of existence. It is known by all only as SQUARE ENIX...
Even though the incident was resolved days ago, the aftermath was still being cleaned up. It all started with the man stumbling upon the mansion only to meet a few Individuals armed with swords. So naturally when said individuals approach you with weapons drawn you'd assume that as a challenge right? Well the new guy certainly did. It didn't help at all that once word got out smashers were quickly flocking towards the front to stop the 'intruder' in their tracks. Eventually the new guy stumbled upon Little Mac who was out for a jog, and in a fierce battle both combatants managed to knock the other out. After it was all said and done MH finally decided to come out of his meditation and clear the air.
Little Mac was put in charge of the new guy since they seemed to have acquainted themselves after their battle. It was weird and awkward being around them however as both men were of little to no words. But it's like they had their own universal language, they only have to give the other a look and it's like they knew exactly what they meant. Although it would be assumed he'd get partnered with Mac that was not the case since Mac already had a partner, Ike. He was roomed with Roy since the redhead didn't officially have a roommate, hence why he was always paired with Mii's. And they did get a name out of the fellow, so that's the story of Ryu, and his first steps into the world of smash…
The Elite Six were currently standing at the center of the large front yard overlooking repairs. See after MH came out of his chambers and saw half the yard and mansion torn up he flew into a rage. When the situation was explained he flew into an even bigger rage. And he ordered everyone to fix the damages manually instead of doing it with magic or having the Mii's do it. All under the "Don't poke the bear" rule in the stated rule book. Which states that newcomers are to be handled with caution and are not to be aggravated since this place is a lot to take in. And the Six were put in charge of overseeing all work being done since there were a couple of protests about the whole thing. Apparently smashers were fumed about being punished for defending the mansion, due to misinformation of course. It didn't help that it happened to start snowing when everyone was ordered to repair the damages either.
"Man it's colder than Yeto's freezer out here!" Link said while blowing on his hands which were in green mittens.
"Yeto doesn't… Never mind." Zelda responds, shaking her head slightly while wrapping her purple coat around her tighter.
"I wanted to make everyone some hot coco until I found out even the kitchen was destroyed, somehow…" Peach added in while adjusting the hood of her pink parka.
"Id-a kill for-a cup of-a coco right-a now honestly…" Mario adds while he brushed his bushy mustache with his hand.
"Oh quit complaining it's not so bad." Samus pipes up nonchalantly while in her suit.
"Let me see you step out of that thing and say that!" Link quickly retorts but she just waved him off. "Yeah that's what I thought..." He quickly says with a tisk. At that point however she turns to him and they hear a slight hiss before she steps out of her suit standing in front of Link with her arms crossed.
"Like I said, quit your whining it's not so bad." She states again before she gets back into her suit shortly after proving her point.
"At least be glad you aren't a Charizard right now..." Marth states while looking over at said Pokemon who had a huddle of smashers stuck to him like flies.
*Meanwhile*
Crash
"You can't keep putting all the weight on one side you got to even it out."
"I know!"
"Well apparently you don't since this is the third time this happened."
"Why are you here?" Lucina states with a sigh picking up the wheelbarrow and shoveling the dirt back into it.
"I told you already, there's nothing to do since all events were cancelled and half the place is in repair" Dark Pit replied casually with a shrug.
"I mean if you aren't going to help then why are you here!" Lucina responded, throwing the shovel on the mountain of dirt on top of the wheelbarrow.
"I am helping" he says casually placing his hand in the pockets of his hoodie.
"Following me around and making snotty remarks is not helping…" She states once again picking up the wheelbarrow and pushing it along.
"And why are you here, you were let off the hook" he says casually walking after her.
"Because I volunteered to help my fellow smashers with their unjust punishment, unlike some people I know." She says while shooting him a quick look.
"You're such a boy scout" he says with a short laugh.
"Excuse me?" She responds while turning her head slightly to face him.
"You heard me!" he says with that typical grin of his. She just shook her head and kept her eyes on the path ahead. They reach a large crater near the front of the mansion with the shape of a person in the middle. Dark Pit whistles while looking at the large crater rather amused. "I'll admit this guy knows how to have a good time!" He states.
"He plunged Falcon into the ground, that doesn't seem like a good time to me." She says while shoveling dirt into the large crater.
"Seems like it to me" he says and she throws some dirt at him which he sidestepped casually. "Why don't you just tip the wheelbarrow over instead of shoving the dirt out?" He says while casually leaning against a tree nearby.
"Because then it'll go all over the place" she responds albeit still shoveling. He just casually walks over and kicks the wheelbarrow over making all the dirt fall out into the hole.
"Look at that you're done!" He says while she just gave him a look. "What, you told me to help so I helped!" He says with a sly shrug of his shoulders. She just sighed and began to even out the dirt so it would completely cover the crater.
"Why aren't you with Dark Link, I'm sure he could use your 'help' more than I do." She says shortly after placing her hands on the top of the shovel and resting her head on it.
"Yeah he was thrown in a cell again, go figure..." he remarks while fiddling with a twig.
"Yeah that's where you should be too…" she says under her breath. "What did you guys do now?" she asks nonchalantly.
"Not so much me as it was him, anyway you heard about the kitchen right?" He begins as she nods her head slightly.
"Yeah, just another calamity." she says.
"Not exactly, once he heard they were making beverages in there he went in to try to get back at Link for filling his hat with ants. So he stuffed a bunch of bombs into a large thermal which he saw Link using earlier. Thing is it wasn't Link's, it was the one used by everyone. So when someone filled it with hot water it blew up half the kitchen." He says with a casual shrug.
"And I'm sure you had nothing to do with it..." she remarks while placing the shovel into the wheelbarrow and taking it away.
"Well the thought of giving Pit explosive coco did cross my mind…" He admits as an evil grin plastered on his face.
"You know there is more to life than amusing yourself by hurting others." She states.
"You know there is also more to life than trying to push a wheelbarrow downhill…" He quickly responds before she could ask however he pushed her into it and jumped on making it pick up speed and practically making it sled down the hill.
"Make it stop, make it stop!" She quickly shouts in a panic watching the world zoom by as he laughed like a maniac. Shortly after it crashes at the base of the hill and they both get sent flying into a pile of snow. When she got back up she was completely coated in snow, even having a small pile of it on her head. Dark Pit however was rolling on the floor hollering with laughter.
His laughter seized however when he got a snowball to the face. He gets up and sees her walking away while grumbing to herself. Just before she promptly receives a snowball to the back of the head. She turns around and sees him with a wide grin and holding another in his hand. She takes another fistful of snow and chases after him trying to pelt him with snow…
*Later*
All the smashers were currently in the auditorium having a lunch break in there. Since the kitchen and cafeteria were out of order. Kirby was up on the stage with a chefs hat and large pot handing out soup to smashers who were in line. Although he was being supervised by Peach and Link (since he claimed to be a master at making soup) as assistants. Since the last time Kirby made a large pot of stew someone got a shoe in theirs. Smashers had to sit in the auditorium seats eating out of foam cups with plastic spoons.
"Do you want bread or crackers?" Peach asked.
"What kind of crackers?" Toon asked while raising an eyebrow.
"Salted" she responds plainly.
"What kind of bread?" He says stroking his chin.
"It's bread" she says plainly knowing he was up to something.
"But like theres wheat, whole grain, white, sourdough, yadda yadda" he says while moving his hand in a circle motion.
"It's a baguette," she says.
"Im allergic" he states
"Then have the crackers"
"Too salty"
"Then have some fruit"
"Too fruity!"
"Toon!" She says getting frustrated.
"What, I have special dietary needs!" He states with a shrug. "Is there even any meat in this?" He says looking down at his soup.
"No, that's too unhealthy for you!" she says, placing her hands on her hips as Link walks over with his arms crossed. Who also was wearing a chef hat and apron.
"Man this stinks, we're obviously omnivores we need meat, meat is essential for survival!" Toon protests.
"Them the rules bud," Link says with a shrug.
"But" he says
"No buts!" Peach says while holding up her finger.
"But…" He continued to complain but at that point Link snatched his food away
"No soup for you!" Link states quickly in a thick accent...
*meanwhile*
Lucina walks into the auditorium after spending about an hour or so of pelting Dark Pit with snow. She wouldn't admit it to him even if her life depended on it, but he was right it was fun.
"Hey where have you been? We were just about to go looking for you." Raven states while pointing a thumb back at Marth right behind her.
"Sorry I got caught up in something" she casually says with a shrug.
"Was it a snowstorm?" Marth states while brushing some snow off her coat.
"Oh that, I… I… Fell" she quickly states not wanting to admit she was messing around instead of helping, and especially not to Marth.
"Ok well we saved you some soup" Raven said handing her the cup and some crackers.
"Oh finally something warm!" Lucina states relieved while taking a big sip.
"Yeah don't worry we should have the kitchen back by tomorrow morning." Marth assures her before walking off to where Samus and Zelda were in the back of the place.
"How is he?" Lucina asks in sort of a whisper while stirring her soup to avoid Raven's gaze.
"He's fine, still has a mild headache. The concision wasn't as bad as we thought." Raven responds as she places her back against the wall.
"He's so stupid" Lucina mumbles before taking another sip of the warm soup.
"Yeah but he's a special kind of stupid" Raven states as she takes a bite out of some bread. Lucina just chuckled a little while shaking her head. "Does this mean you're no longer mad at him?" Raven asks shortly after while silently chewing her bread.
"No it just means…" Lucina begins but then quickly races through her thoughts, what does it mean? He stupidity went into a battle which she could've handled without him, which caused him to be smashed head first into a wall. He was out for several hours and then remained in a daze for a whole day after with a migraine. Sure she managed to avoid Ryu's destructive path because of it but still part of her couldn't bother to worry about him. Although she only got the mixed feelings after she saw them pulling out his crumbled body from out of the wall he was embedded in. She still wanted to hate him but she couldn't force herself too, especially after that. She did sneak into the infirmary just to check on him after all. "It just means he's a bigger idiot than I thought..." She responds after a while Raven nods and hums to herself.
"I see" She says while being lost in her own thoughts.
"KIRBY NO!"
"POYO?!"
"What the hell is a special cook sock!?"
At the moment Peach and Kirby were arguing about adding a sock to the pot. Even though kirby stated it was a flavor boosting sock since they took away his flavor boosting boot.
Dark Pit enters through the side door shortly after covered in mud and snow… Yeah he fell…
"Pittoo for goodness sake! Why didn't you wash up? you're dragging mud all over the floor!" Palutena scolds him as soon as she spots the dark angel.
"Can it woman, I'm cold and hungry!" He says brushing her off.
"You're covered in gunk!" She protests, "at least brush it off!" She adds to which he responds by shaking vigorously. "Not on me!" She groans and gives up with the boy and walks away.
"That boy, how you managed to put up with him is a miracle all on it's own." Raven states while shaking her head.
"Once you've been there for a while it all kind of drowns out and you can cope." Lucina shrugs, being so used to the angel's antics by now. He pushed past the line and got his food much to the distaste of others but the majority of them being in probation for attacking Ryu couldn't do much since they all knew it would lead to conflict. He walks over to where Lucina and Raven were while dumping crackers in his stew.
"It wouldn't kill them to add some sort of poultry to this would it" he says half disappointed with the meal.
"Hey, at least it's something warm!" Lucina states before taking another sip of her soup. Dark Pit gulps down a big chunk before he starts coughing uncontrollably. Be pounds on his chest with a fist and a soggy stew soaked sock flies out. He picks it up looking at it puzzled while Lucina quickly dumps the stew she had in her mouth back into the cup.
"What the hell is this!" Dark Pit flies into a tantrum and begins to berate the chefs. Apparently Kirby had been adding socks to the stew when no one was looking, until Peach caught him that is.
"That would probably explain the cheesy taste…" Raven states with a casual shrug still eating a piece of bread.
"I think I'm going to be sick…" Lucina says while placing a hand over her mouth.
*The Next Day*
Well it was loud to say the least, everyone participated in the repairs since MH made the others wake up extra early to continue working. As soon as someone stepped out of the dormitory they were flooded with an array of sounds.
"Hey man pass me that power cord" Roy nudged Marth who was next to him placing down some floor boards.
"Roy, that's too many connections they won't hold together." Marth stated as a matter of fact but the redhead just scoffed and casually waved him off.
"That's why I'll do the honors of holding them in place!" Roy proclaims while grabbing the large cord and forcing it into an overloaded power socket. Well he lit up like a christmas tree with sparks and flashes going in every direction. Roy was hollering in a jittery like voice but by now he was nothing more than a skeleton holding a mess of wires. Marth just sighed while sliding his hand down his face very slowly and exaggerated.
On the plus side however the cafeteria and kitchen were fixed so it was back to regular meals and sitting. Well as regular as it got around these parts anyways.
"So like yeah, that happened" Zelda said as she sat back down with arms crossed.
"Thats horrible!" Peach responded while placing a hand over her chest in shock.
"The thing that really got me though was he stole my soap, WHO STEALS SOAP?!" She exclaims.
"Pardon my say so but that sounds overly ridiculous even for Link" Rosalina spoke up with a slight shrug of her shoulders.
"I believe it, he's a moron." Samus says casually.
"You think everyone is a moron" Peach retorts.
"I think he just wanted something to remember you by," Snow says with a shrug.
"With soap?" Zelda says with a raised eyebrow.
"Yeah I don't know…" Snow quickly added while sicking inher seat.
"You know, this would explain some things though" Raven states while stroking her chin.
"Such as?" Zelda asks while leaning back in her chair with her arms crossed. Raven then leans in ushering the other ladies to get closer.
"Well I mean the man is as smooth and bare as a board. Not to mention that tangled mess he calls hair happens to be soft and cuddly like a cloud. Now that's all unnatural, unless of course he was using feminine hygienic products on himself." Raven explains while everyone 'ahhs' and nods in agreement.
"Well I mean, it makes sense but I don't see why he can't ask to borrow my things rather than steal them!" Zelda says.
"Oh you know his manly pride will never allow him to do so, you know how they are too scared to express themselves freely." Peach pipes up before taking a small sip of tea.
"While we're on the topic of unnatural, we can't ignore the fact that Marth's skin and hair aren't way too unnaturally perfect." Palutena adds.
"Yeah well why can't Link steal from him?!" Zelda protests.
"That is assuming Marth uses such products to begin with." Raven states.
"Well does he? Cause I for one would like to know how he manages to look so vibrant! Well… for a guy at least..." Peach says placing her cup down.
"Well there is one person you could ask…" Raven says and they all turn their heads towards the end of the table where Lucina was casually eating a pancake.
"Wot?" She asks looking around confused.
"You've talked to Marth and hanged out with him a lot, you know what he keeps around in his room?" Peach asks while slightly leaning in.
"I only been there a few times, and I don't think I would've been appropriate to snoop around..." Lucina stated.
"Oh but surely he's mentioned something about something, or at the very least recommended something?" Palutena asks.
"Um, not that I know of…" She replies sinking in her seat as they all scoot towards her eyeing her suspiciously.
"You're hiding something aren't you?" Snow stated as a matter of fact.
"You wouldn't do that now would you Lucy?" Peach asked. Putting her arm around the bluenette and basically breathing down her neck, "Right?" She adds.
"I don't know what you're asking…" She says while shifting uncomfortably in her seat.
"Basically what hygiene products does that unnaturally beautiful man use?" Peach says.
"And more importantly if he showers with anything special to have that kind of hair?" Palutena adds.
"Why would I ask the hero-king about his preferred bathing methods?" Lucina states, right before…
"BLEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRFGHF!"
There was a large eruption of liquid shooting across the cafeteria from of course the swordsman table. "Sweet merciful goddess make it stop!" Pit cried while he panicky gasped for air after puking a giant stream.
"BLEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRFGHF!"
"HAHAHA!" Looks like Pit has the weakest-
"BLURRRRRRRRRRGHHGHGGHHHGGGHGGH!"
Ike said before he too started hurling all over the place.
"BUUUUUUUUUURHRRRGRFHEBRBGR!"
"BUUUUHHHHHHHHHHHGGGGGGGGGGGG!"
"BOOOOOUUUUGHHHHHHHHHKKKKKKKKK!"
"BUULULULUULULULULULUGHK!"
"..."
"..."
"...?!"
"!?"
"wot..."
*Later*
"You really are a special kind of stupid, you know that?" Raven says as she rubbed her twins back who was leaning over a bin and breathing heavily.
"It takes one to know one…" Robin answered before hurling into the bin again.
"Just what the hell were you thinking you dolt?!" She says while bonking him on the head.
"I was thinking I'd ought to stand up for tacticians since we're looked down upon, so I decided to stand my ground and show everyone we're more resilient than people give us credit for!" He says proudly before hunching over the bin again to hurl.
"You sure showed them!" Raven remarks sarcastically while she lightly punched him in the arm.
"Hey it's more than you've done to prove our worth." He states.
"Well I mean, out of the two of us… I didn't eat moldy pancakes that Roy found to see how I can stomach them…" She says sarcastically while tapping her chin looking in thought. "Yeah I'd say I've proven myself quite well!" she proclaims with a shrug.
"Yeah well only cause you're chicken!" He fires back while he stands up on his shaking legs.
"And there is also the fact that you are still recovering from your head trauma" she adds while crossing her arms.
"I'm fine" he assures while stumbling and crashing into his dresser.
"Yeah cause you sure seem fine, peak condition!" She remarks. "You're not being yourself lately you're being rash and foolish, this isn't like you." She says while helping him lay down on his bed.
"Well maybe it's because I decided not to be so uptight and unwind a little" he says half dazed. "You gotta live in the moment so just sit back and take it all in!" He says rather enthusiastically.
"You didn't hit your head again did you?" She says while checking the bandage around his head.
"No you just need to have fun, you know fun right!" He says while grabbing her shoulders and shaking her a little.
"Yeah I know fun, but what you're doing is rash. Now remember Dr. Mario said you need to be taking it easy. You're lucky that Master Hand considers your concussion punishment enough. Now take your nap and dont do anything stupid." She says as she tucked him in and walks off as he just scoffed.
"Yeah sure thing mom" he says while turning to his side.
She closed the door behind her while she sighed rather dramatically and drooped her shoulders. "I swear half his brain must be mushed in at this point!" She whispers while shaking her head before walking off. Out from the corner stepped out Lucina who just stared at the door.
"Ah Lucina there you are, come Master Hand would like a word with you." Marth suddenly appears behind her making her jump a foot in the air.
"It's not about your made up story is it?" She asks as they head off.
"What? Oh no no don't worry it's completely unrelated!" He assures her as they step into the elevator to go to the ground floor. They head over towards MHs office once they arrive at the ground floor. When they get there they see that Raven was already in there sitting in one of the chairs.
"Ah miss Lucina, please come in, take a seat we have much to discuss." MH says from behind his desk. She takes her seat and glances over at Raven with a look saying 'what's going on?' But the tactician slightly shrugged. "That is all Marth, dismissed." He says turning towards the bluenette standing by. Marth just slightly bows before he heads out of the room closing the door behind him. "Alright then down to business then!" MH says while clasping his hands together. "This weekend will be our visitors weekend, we hold one or more every tournament depending on how they typically go that is." He explains while the two ladies just turn to look at each other. "The rules are simple, each of you will get to pick one guest from your respective worlds. That guest will then stay for an entire weekend here with you. We do this to let a few more select individual's experience life in the smash brothers, while also it lets me see if there are any potential future additions to the roster." He finished as he stood from his desk handing the two girls an envelope.
"You need only to name said individual, and I'll take care of the rest. Take all day today and tomorrow to think it over if you need to as the guest will not arrive till after tomorrow. And that pretty much sums it up, you're dismissed." He adds before going back to sit at his desk. They both stood from their seats and began to head. "Oh one last thing, Raven, you'll need to relay this information to your twin if you'd be so kind." Master Hand calls out.
"I'll be sure to do that, sir" she responds before she heads out the door. "So do you have anyone in mind yet?" Raven turns towards Lucina who hummed unsure.
"I'm thinking maybe either father or my sister," she says. "And yourself?" She asks the tactician who just smirked.
"Why you of course!" She says while Lucina looked at her puzzled. "Oh come now picture it, two Lucinas' wouldn't that be grand!" She says while putting her arm around the bluenette and holding out her hand motioning towards the wall.
"Well, I mean, it would be interesting to say the least..." Lucina replies.
"I jest, truth is I certainly don't know as of yet, there are too many options if I'm being honest." She says as they walk into the main entrance room which was on fire at the moment.
"TURN IT OFF, TURN IT OFF!" Link was shouting frantically towards the back where Ike and Shulk were panicked and turning a large valve as quickly as possible. "OTHER WAY!" Link screams with a voice crack as he ducks out of the way of a giant torrent of flames from a large blow torch. Raven quickly grabs Lucina and drops to the floor along with the bluenette as the large bluish white flame passes over them.
"AH! IT DONE SHOT ME IN THE BUMBUM!"
"MY LEG!"
"OTHER WAY!"
"MY HAIR!"
"WHAT THE CINNAMON TOAST FRICK?!"
"THE VALVE BROKE!"
"LINK SHUT THAT OFF RIGHT NOW!"
"IM TRYING!"
"TAKE IT OUT TAKE IT OUT!"
At that point everyone rushed forward to try and take the thing out of commission. When the smashers were unable to, they proceeded to chuck things at it. And it went as well as you'd assume with the spinning flames turning everything they threw at it into ash.
"LINK NO, NOOOOOOOOOOO!" Zelda exclaimed and tackled the other hylian to the floor and took the bomb in his hand away.
"It's the only way to stop it Zel!" Link protested while trying to take it back.
"No it's not you jackass!" She quickly retorts.
"I got the valve back on!" Shulk cries out before being blasted by the flames. He jumps out a window and takes off running with his head on fire.
"Charge that valve!" Zelda called out and everyone stopped throwing things and rushed for the valve. And it was a game of move, then drop when the flame came around, then resume the charge to the vault, rinse and repeat. Well when they eventually turned it off everyone breathed in a huge sigh of relief. And of course Zelda started berating Link about proper equipment usage and precautions until…
"Hey, does anyone smell something burning?" Ike says while everyone took a quick whiff of the air. Then Lucina noticed the sleeve of her sweater on fire and started to frantically pat on it.
"QUICK TURN HER OFF!" Ike shouts profusely.
"Wait, no no no Ike!" She exclaimed quickly but it was too late as she was tackled to the floor by like 10 smashers or so give or take.
Meanwhile…
"And that's what happened…" Raven finished explaining to Dr Mario as to why Lucina was in the infirmary.
"I toghd yhou!" Shulk proclaimed from the other side of the room with his entire head wrapped around in bandages with two little eye holes cut out.
"Yeah, no surprise-a there, since this-a whole rebuild-a I've been-a getting more and-a more patients." Dr. Mario says with a sigh, "well you'll need to-a take it-a easy for-a the rest of-a the day, got it!" He says as he turns to Lucina who was in a body cast.
"Yeah" she replies as he hands her some meds before sending her off. She could still walk, somewhat, as her upper body was mainly crushed in that drastic dogpile. So now she and Raven were slowly going back to her room so she could take it easy. "Have you given any thought yet as to who you're going to invite this weekend?" Lucina asked as she slowly limped after the tactician.
"Well given all the crazy events that transpired this past hour, no, not really no…" Raven replied as she pressed the button for the elevator.
"Fair enough…" Lucina says with a short sigh. The little ding goes off and the doors open shortly after. Raven pressed the button to the upper floor as soon as they entered. Raven then took out a small bottle of water taking a small sip from it.
"I think I'm going to invite Father, I'm sure he'll love to see this place!" Lucina says shortly after. Just then Raven starts to choke on her water and even spilled some on herself while she starts coughing uncontrollably.
"Are you alright?" Lucina asked worriedly while the Tactician waved her off.
"I'm fine, I'm sure your father will really enjoy the visit." Raven said as she removed her white hoodie she spilled water on. "You know the reason I can't decide who to invite is because I haven't seen any of my old comrades in a long time. Even before I came here I sort of went off on my own after we defeated Grima. Indeed your Father and Lissa offered me a home in their kingdom but I felt like I needed to do a little soul searching. I felt so out of place and I needed to get away, and shortly after I was invited here." She explained as the elevator dinged and the doors opened.
"It sounds like you really wanted to get away," Lucina says as they step out.
"Erm, not exactly" Raven assures.
"I mean Robin felt the same way after the whole thing with Grima, but he didn't leave though. Even when we failed to persuade him to stay, he decided to stick around anyway. But it feels like you had a need to other than the fact you felt out of place, why is that?" Lucina asked as Raven just kept her gaze ahead and sped up slightly.
"Uh-I I um, just…" Raven staggered.
"I mean there had to have been another reason or else you would have stayed like Robin no?" Lucina says while Raven stopped in her tracks suddenly.
"Lucina, I…" Raven began as she kept her gaze lowered hiding her face in her bangs.
"What's wrong?" Lucina asked worriedly.
"I just needed to get away, is all..." Raven responds after a while and begins walking off.
"But, why, I have a feeling there is something you're not telling me?" Lucina asks.
"It's not important!" Raven suddenly exclaimed while slamming her fist into the wall. Lucina just stayed quiet and in shock at the sudden outburst. Raven was slightly shaking as she kept her gaze on the floor breathing heavily.
"Raven I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you…" Lucina said softly while the tactician wiped her face on her sleeves.
"It's alright, I didn't mean to burst out like that. I'm just not ready to talk about that quite yet." She says solemnly.
"I understand, I didn't mean to pry," Lucina assured her.
"Let's just get you to bed so you can recover," Raven says and continues onwards. The rest of the walk down the hall was rather silent. Lucina still wondered in her head however as to what had Raven so worked up. Raven opened her door for her and helped her into bed and left without another word. Lucina contemplated on trying to make it up to Raven for upsetting her greatly. Then again bringing it up again might just make things worse. She felt so helpless at that moment and just sank into her bed, there had to be a way she could make it up to Raven.
Shortly after Dark Pit walked in wearing a big jacket and a facemask with goggles. He took one look at Lucina and snorted loudly before he started laughing. "So you're the one who got smeared!" He said hysterically.
"What now?" She asked as he leaned against the wall.
"There was a rumor of some poor sap who got smeared earlier today, to think it was you!" He said as he sighed and wiped away a fake tear.
"Well like I said before, I at least was trying to help!" She retorts.
"Yeah and look where that got you" he replied simply as he removed his goggles and mask.
"Yeah and where were you, up to no good I bet, at least I did something productive!" She states and tried to cross her arms but then winced in pain when she tried to move her arms.
"Well there was a sledding race and I wanted in on it, there were big rewards might I add." He replied while sitting on his bed and kicking off his snow boots.
"Like I said up to no good" She said with a shake of her head.
I wouldn't say that" he states while he removed his gloves and took out a bag from his coat and jiggled it around. "At this point if I keep winning bets like this I'll be able to afford my own mansion pretty soon." He said rather amused. "Which reminds me, tomorrow is our scheduled day off to head into the city." He says while putting on more casual footwear. He then took out a crumpled envelope and tossed it into a nearby bin.
"Hey aren't you going to invite anyone?" Lucina asked as he just scoffed.
"Who the hell am I supposed to invite?!" He exclaimed. "Hades? Medusa?" He asked.
"Right…" she says shortly after as he just takes one more look at her and walks out the door while snickering to himself.
She just took out one of her books and began to read it was still early and she had nothing else to do, especially since she was taken out of commission. That and there was also the fact that she didn't quite get how the TV worked yet, the manual didn't help much either. She could ask, however she felt much too shy and ashamed to ask around, DP didn't help with that either. The thing though was that luckily the giant Library that spanned 3 floors had plenty of reading material to get by on. And it was luxurious in the room after all since it was nice and warm and cosy, unlike the rest of the mansion being cold due to the walls still needing repair.
Her phone bagan to ring and she placed her book aside and reached into her pocket to pull it out. As best as she could with having her arms in casts, when she takes it out she fumbles with it in her hands and drops it on the ground. She silently curses and gets out of bed slowly and then reaches for her phone, which slides under the bed…
She just groaned and tried to retrieve it by sticking one of her legs under the bed to try and reach it. It wasn't that easy though and she was mainly relying on the sound of the chime to locate it. That is until the chime stopped and now she had to feel around with her toes to try and find it. To no avail however and she just dropped to the floor in defeat while audibly groaning in annoyance. Just then there was a soft knock at the door and she picked up her head slightly.
"Just a second!" She says and begins to slowly get herself up or at least struggling to. The knock got a little louder this time however, "I'm coming!" She states again and then groans. "What am I thinking they can't hear you, the rooms are magically sound proof!" She says to herself just as the foot she had under the bed got stuck on something. Indeed MH decided to make rooms soundproof due to multiple noise complaints in the middle of the night. Mainly complaints of neighbors snoring way too loud, like with the case of King DDD. And other smashers just being too rowdy such as the kid smashers who'd often be jumping off the walls. This of course happens every tournament. And of course the magic made it so that knocks on the doors could still be heard.
"Come on!" She exclaimed while tugging on her leg. Her phone begins to ring again at that very moment however. She could feel it brush past her leg as it chimed and she tried reaching for it again this time with her other leg. She places a foot on the phone and kicks it towards her so she could pick it up, but in her frustration kicked it out of reach. She just turns around looking at her phone just out of reach and groans. She then extended her arm as best as she could towards the phone as the knocks on the door got louder. She could feel her fingers slightly brush past the phone, she tried tugging on her leg again to try to get closer but to no avail. Whoever was at the door was now pounding against it like if they intended to break it down. Her phone however was buzzing like crazy getting calls and messages like crazy. She was now frantically pulling on her leg now and started to hear a large tear. She had managed to tangle her foot onto the fabric of the carpet and now she was tearing it off the floor. She kept tugging however and the tear got louder but she kept at it regardless as she inched closer to the phone.
She finally got a hold of it and immediately picked up the chiming thing.
"Hello?"
"No I'm fine I just-"
"What?"
"Oh…"
"I'll be right there, I'm just in a little situation right now…" She hung up and then tugged her leg one last time loosening her leg and getting free, albeit tearing up the carpet. Apparently MH had called a meeting to the auditorium, and there were several smashers trying to contact her about it.
*moments later*
Lucina was seated at the auditorium next to Marth as Master Hand conversed with a Mii up on the stage. He then nods and ushers the Mii off as he adjusted his collar while turning towards the crowd. "Alright, well now why did I call you here you ask?" He began while the crowd looked at him dumbfounded. "It's simple, you're all imbeciles!" He stated. "I've taken the repair of the mansion into my own hands, hand, whatever. I wanted this to be a lesson for you all but it seems it just made everyone worse." He says with a long dramatic sigh. "I mean we had you people turning up in the infirmary every hour, pointless squabbles over even more pointless disputes, and not to mention the fires. Oh my sweet lord the FIRES, there was a fire every minute!" He exclaimed before he took a moment to collect himself.
"Hey that's not true man!" Someone shouted from out of the crowd. Just then Link caught on fire and took off running out the door in a panic.
"For the love of!" MH says as he facepalms, "someone go put him out!" He says as Zelda stood from her seat and went after the fellow hylian.
"LINK NO THAT'S NOT WATER!"
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
The entire mansion rumbled a bit from the explosion. What explosion? Well the flaming Link decided to dunk himself head first into a barrel of gasoline, and it went as well as you'd expect…
*even later*
Zelda and Link were back in their seats completely covered in soot, and Link rivaling Dark Link in color.
"As to prove my point further!" Master Hand says while pointing at Link who smiled sheepishly as Zelda glared at him. "I'm calling off the project, I think the majority of you mashing your fingers, burning yourselves, cementing yourselfs, electrocuting yourselves, blowing up, down, and sideways, collapsing things on yourselves, and in one weird case drowning. You've all learned your lesson!" MH says as he just glared around the room as people lowered themselves in their seat when he called out their mistake.
"The next thing is we prepare this place for the guests that are to arrive this weekend. And I swear to everything that's holy, IF ONE OF YOU BLOWS UP!" He exclaims while pointing a shaking finger at the crowd. "This shouldn't be that hard to comprehend should it? Good! Now the Six will be handing out your tasks afterwards, so that is all!" He finished and turned towards the Six sitting in the front row and nodded before he vanished. The Six then stood up and prepared to hand out little notes with the tasks each smasher will carry out as well as the supplies they will need.
"Here you go Lucina, you and your partner will be in charge of setting up the main room for the guests." Marth informs her as he hands her a slip of paper.
"Alright understood" She says and walks off motioning towards her partner. He gives Dark Link a fist bump and then rushes over towards his partner.
"Alright, what do we got?" He says looking at the paper from over her shoulder.
"Well we just need to set up the main room is all, hand up a banner, some balloons, a sign-in desk." She says while looking it over.
"Alright that seems easy enough, hell we might even be done before dinner rolls around!" He says enthusiastically walking off with his hands on his head.
"Alright so according to the map the map the supplies should be in the storage room right about… Here!" She says and stops in front of an old faded door. She inserts the key and then turns the knob as the door creaks very loudly. She looks around and sees a banner neatly folded in the corner and a little shelves with streamers and balloons. "Huh, not as big as I thought…" She said looking around the little room that was probably the size of a small sofa. "But where are the other supplies, the majority of the things listed here aren't around?" She said puzzled while looking around. Dark Pit then reached in and pulled a little chain hanging from the ceiling. They hear loud buzzing and big lights clicking on one by one from behind the wall. Lucina feels around and comes to find that the wall was not in fact a wall but a curtain. When she parts it they enter a large room that was about the size of a small gymnasium. Lucina just stood there and gawked at the humongous metal shelves with rows and rows of things piled on.
"Oh come on we have to search all that?!" Dark Pit exclaimed as he crossed his arms with a scowl.
"Not exactly according to the instructions, we need only search the first two selves on the northeastern side of the room." She says looking over the instructions again.
"Then what's all that other junk?" He says while looking around.
"I think I remember Marth telling me that this is where they store old stuff from previous tournaments, or broken objects for repairs and occasionally a storage for things used at a later date." She informed him as she looked around the rows.
Well let's get this over with then…" he says walking over to the first shelve and pulling out a large plastic container. He removes the lid and finds parts to ensemble some tables. "Found the tables" he says as Lucina pulls out another one.
"Right now we need to find the chairs." She says as she removes the lid. "No more tables…" She says as she stood up and looked around contemplating which box might have the chairs. "Hey Dark Pit, can you pull that one box up there down for me?" She says pointing towards a smaller box up at the tip top shelf.
"Why can't you do it?" He says looking up as she gave him a 'really?' Look. He just chuckled to himself before he flew up and brought the box down. She opens it up and finds it full of sheets to place on the tables to pretty them up.
"Well not exactly what I was looking for… But I guess…" She says taking out a sheet and looking it over. "What do you think, blue or red?" She says holding up two sheets.
"Why not both?" He says as she looks down at the sheets in thought.
"Eh, I guess" She says with a slight shrug of her shoulders. "Alright we just need the chairs and we can begin setting up!" She said looking around the different containers and boxes.
"Meh we don't need em" he waved her off.
"Why not?" She asks as he picks up the two large containers with table parts.
"Well I mean the whole place is going to be buzzing with excited guests eager to explore, who's going to have time to sit around?" He states and begins to walk off and she looks back at the shelves before following after him with the box of sheets, the banner, streamers, and balloons.
They get to the main room and she begins to set up the tables as Dark Pit sets up the giant 'welcome' banner and some streamers. They had almost everything until she scanned the list again. "Hey what's a helium tank?" She asks as he quickly tears off another piece of tape to hang up the streamers.
"It's a metal pipe looking thing on a trolley" He said as the sound of tape being stretched out followed.
"I didn't see it in the storage room though…" She said looking over the instructions again. "And we forgot the balloon strings." She adds.
"More like you forgot" he states as he tore off another piece of tape. She just gave him a look and then waved him off and walked back to the storage. She looked around a bit till she found what DP had described near the back. A large helium tank that was strapped to a trolley. She took the handle and began to wheel it away back towards the front. When she got back to the front DP was finishing up putting the last of the streamers up.
"Wow it looks good!" Lucina said surprised as DL flew back down to the ground.
"What's that supposed to mean?" He said while raising an eyebrow.
"No nothing, it's just I mean…" she fumbled as she scratched the back of his head. "I got the tank" she said quickly while placing in front of him.
"Ok well we'll need to place several on top and a few more on strings attached to the table." He said while he looked around the room.
"Ok so how does this work?" She said looking at the pack of balloons and reading the back.
"Eh, don't worry about that" he said, tossing them aside. "We'll make the balloons the day of arrival, otherwise they'll just deflate by then." He informs her as he looks at their list. "Well it looks like we need the floor and door decorations now." He said reading it over while stroking his chin.
"Alright well let's go find those then" Lucina says as she turns and heads back to the storage.
Meanwhile…
"Is it this one?" Raven asked while handing Peach a large black bottle.
"No dear, that's imitation vanilla" The princess replied while still twirling the batter with a large wooden spoon.
"What's the difference?" Raven said while looking down at the bottle.
"It's not real vanilla, we wouldn't want to give our guests that now wouldn't we? I need the pure vanilla extract." She informed the tactician as she looked over at her cookbook.
"Why do we even have this then?" Raven asks.
"Oh that's just there for when I make something quick and fun without using the good stuff all up." She replied quickly as her finger scanned the book.
"Alright…" Raven said and walked off back into the large kitchen storage, which was the size of a small classroom full of bottles, bags and boxes all full of ingredients used for cooking. She places it back into the shelf with the other black bottles and scans through them looking for the one without the word 'imitation' on it. "Ah here we go!" She said taking a large black bottle from the back that had 'Vanilla Extract' in bold. "I wonder…" she thought while opening the bottle, "what's the difference?" She said as she took a sip of the vanilla extract…
"Oh dear Naga!" She exclaimed with a scrunched up face as she began to cough uncontrollably.
"Yo you ok?" Shulk said as he entered and saw his partner gagging in the back.
"Im ok!" She said while frantically licking her sleeve.
"What happened?" He said as he placed some spices back on the spice rack.
"Here, try this..." she said, handing him the bottle of vanilla extract.
"Oh no I'm not falling for that one again!" He states taking a big jug of smokey flavor and walking off. She just looked back at the bottle and placed the lid on it, why did Peach want to use that awful stuff?
She walked back into the kitchen and handed Peach the bottle and watched her dump a good amount into her cupcake mix. She then began to whisk it with her large wooden spoon again as she slowly added sugar. "Aaaaaaaaand… Done!" She said taking a little on the spoon and handing it to the tactician.
"Oh I rather not..." Raven replied while shaking her hand, the awful taste still lingering in her mouth.
"Oh come on, it's not so bad, just try it!" Peach said cheerfully, waving the spoon in front of Raven. The tactician just mentally groaned again as she was backed up into a corner. You couldn't say no to the pink princess for long before she got you to crack and say yes one way or another. She took the spoon and gave it a tiny lick as Peach just looked at her with those big round eyes waiting to hear what she thought.
"Hey thats… That's really good!" Raven exclaimed as Peach just smiled widely.
"It's my best recipe!" The princess said as she began to pour the mixture into a cupcake tin filled with little paper cups. She then placed several into a large oven and closed the door. She wiped her hands on her apron before she removed it, hanging it on the hanger next to the door. "Alright let's see how the guys are doing shall we?" She said motioning the tactician to follow who was still licking the giant wooden spoon.
They exit the kitchen and see Link on a ladder dumping the smokey flavor into a large oversized pot filled with raw steaks.
"I still can't believe Master Hand allowed this!" Shulk said excitedly.
"Yeah well you can thank me and Mario for that, we convinced Master Hand it would be better if we didn't serve guests none of that 'tofu' stuff." Link replied with a grin. Then immediately cleared his throat when he saw Peach come skipping peacefully towards them.
"Hey guys how's the marinating going?" She said looking back and forth between the two.
"Oh great, this is going to be MOUA, spectacular!" Link states as he kissed his hand.
"I still think we should've stuck to the tofu meat we had prepared…" Peach said with a slight frown, "what is Master Hand thinking" she said as she walked away shaking her head. Link and Shulk just shrugged before turning to each other with large grins and nudging the other.
And lastly…
"Most distasteful" Ganondorf said with a tisk as he shook his head.
"Although it's my second time being up here, I'm already sick of it." Robin says with a sigh as he picks up another box. They had been tasked to go retrieve items from the attic, again in Robin's case.
"The Hand should know by now that I am beyond simple gruntwork" Ganon said as he loaded the large boxes into the elevator. Robin then places the box he had next to a stack of others.
"No point in arguing about it" Robin sighed as he wiped his forehead with his sleeve. "Although, there is the question as to why is it so hot up here, isn't it snowing outside?" He said as he unzipped his sweater and removed it.
Meanwhile in Master Hands office...
"So everyone is going smoothly and according to plan, best yet no one has blown up yet!" Peach reported cheerfully as Master Hand leaned forward on his desk with his hands clasped together.
"Yet?" Master Hand said.
"Erm, at all sir, not like we're expecting anyone to!" Peach quickly blurts.
"In any case we should be set for the weekend when the guests arrive" Samus adds.
The cookout area has also been set up with my personal supervision, there is no way anything or anyone can blow up." Samus adds as she goes through her tablet. "The main hall has been prepared with streamers and banners, the sleeping bags for the guests have been brought down from the attic as well." She says as Master Hand bobbed his head along.
"Have the list of the guests all been filled out?" MH asked as he leaned back in his chair.
"Yes some have been filled out now, however we are still pending on a few others" Marth replied as he looked over a clipboard.
"Alright and has the portal frame been established yet to allow safe passage?" He asked.
"Yes sir I took care of that" Zelda states.
"Well it seems we are all set then!" MH proclaims rather thrilled. "Now remember you guys will be my eyes and ears, anyone you see that might make a good candidate make sure to take note of them so we may discuss it." He says as they all nod their heads.
"I'm sure I'll meet lots of potential candidates while I'm handling the cookout!" Link states.
"Ah yes that was a most wonderful suggestion you made!" Master Hand says cheerfully
"What?!" Zelda exclaimed.
"Yeah Link here came to me this morning insisting we have a cookout with regular meats to attract more guests to socialise more, it'll be better for people to get to know each other better" Master Hand informs them as he rambled on rather gleefully. The girls however all slowly turned towards the green clad elf while keeling friendly postures. Although you could see it in their eyes that they were mentally planning Link's murder for going behind their back.
"Anyway!" Master Hand says afterwards, "There is still much work to be done! So you're dismissed!" He said while ushering them out of the room. As soon as the door closed the three guys began to walk away quickly and nervously.
"Ohhhh Link!" Came the sweet yet chilling voice of Zelda from behind. Link stiffened and stopped in his tracks. "We'd like to have a word with you…" she said in that same chilling sweet voice.
"Ok, y-y-you guys c-coming? Mario, Marth?" He said while looking desperately at the other two.
"Oh I just remembered I left my sword out in the snow, that's bad, very bad it could rust!" Marth stated and quickly sped away.
"Mario?" Link croaked.
"Uhh, what, oh, I'll-a be right-a there Luigi!" Mario exclaimed before taking off.
"Guys…" Link squealed while trembling in panic. Just then a hand slowly reached out and roughly took a hold of Link's shoulder…
*Later*
Lucina kicked off her shoes and then laid on her bed, it was definitely going to be a long day tomorrow. She had made up her mind about who to bring even though there were many. She took all day to contemplate it and she had already filled her invitation. She is going to turn it into MHs office first thing in the morning. Dark Pit had already passed out in his bed head first into his pillow. Things after tomorrow were certainly going to get a lot more interesting, not to mention crowded…
Hey folks that's another conclusion to another chapter. Things are about to get WILD!
See you around, have a great day, and watch yourselves. Toodles! (* ^∀^)ﾉｼ
Next Chapter: Cold War!