Fox and Lucina were not fine after their match against Mario and Roy. In fact, they were quite miserable. Despite the systems that were in place to heal their wounds every time they were thrown off the stage, there was a side effect where champions still felt sore despite having no injuries. It was a mental effect that usually took a few hours to wear off depending on how accustomed they were to it.

"I'm sorry," grumbled Lucina, rubbing her perfectly fine shoulder, "I was miserable. I didn't perform well at all."

"You were fine," said Fox, holding his head in his hands. He was still tenderly rubbing where Mario had walloped him in the chest and sent him flying off the stage for the final time. "If anything, I was the one who underperformed."

"What are you talking about?" said Lucina. "You still had two knockouts left. Then I stole one off you and ruined it…"

In the new doubles format, instead of a first to three points system, each player was given three "lives" or "stocks". A champion would lose one of these lives if they were knocked off, and if they lost all three, they were eliminated. A team won when they eliminated both of their opponents. A twist was added that if there was only one champion left on the team, but they still had two or more lives, their eliminated teammate could take one of their lives and return to the fight.

"I told you to do that," said Fox. "That's not your fault. I needed your help. I just made a bad judgment call."

There was a moment of silence where they both stared at the ground of the locker room.

"Okay," said Lucina flatly. She got up and left. Fox dared to glimpse at her as she left the room and saw that she was stone-faced.

He scratched the back of his head, realizing he may have just said the quiet part out loud.

The fights today were best of three, a shorter than normal match given the doubles matches led to longer individual games and champions were still very confused on how to work with each other. Fox and Lucina had lost the first game quite handedly, with Mario still having two of his lives left and Roy one. In the second game, they looked to be turning the tables as Fox had two lives and Lucina one when both Mario and Roy were one their final life with Roy and Lucina fairly banged up. Lucina got shoved off by Mario and Fox was left in a two on one situation. However, Roy was barely hanging on, and he still had two lives left against Mario. Still, he told Lucina to take his second life. Mario explicitly targeted Fox, and despite them throwing off Roy quickly, Mario had beat up Fox enough to toss him from the stage as well. This left Lucina to fend against Mario, which Mario won comfortably.

Fox dragged his feet out of the locker room and headed for the private bar, taking care to avoid and public areas along the way. Spectators weren't always the kindest people after a loss, especially when the match was very winnable.

"Well look who's back from the dead."

Scrib was looking at Fox a little more smugly than he preferred.

"How do you ever find time to write when you're sitting in here drinking all day?" Fox grumbled, taking a spot several seats away from him.

"It's not like I have much else to do," said Scrib. "Whenever I'm not watching you get your butt kicked, I'm writing, and vice versa."

Fox rolled his eyes and buried his head. "Okay, fine, you win. You were right, we didn't stand a chance." He hadn't even made it back to the mansion and he was already obsessed with training for the next match so he could reclaim some lost pride. Any time he performed terribly he became painfully self-conscious about the fact he was one of the Big Eight and had a standard to uphold for everyone else. If he ever looks weak, it taints the whole group.

"However, I think I have more to do than you," added Scrib.

"What's that supposed to mean?" said Fox, not lifting his head. He didn't really want to hear Scrib's philosophical arguments right now, but it'd be rude to his friend to up and leave now. It wasn't Scrib's fault he acted like a rookie out there.

"Do you do anything other than eat, sleep, train, and fight?"

Fox picked his head up. "No," he said dully. "This is our job, and we're pretty famous for it."

Scrib sighed. "You need an outlet, otherwise you'll get all wound up and eventually go crazy."

"I've been doing this for twenty years, Scrib, I think I'll be okay."

"You haven't been doing whatever this is for twenty years," countered Scrib, gesturing broadly at the screen showing the next round of doubles matches. He also sounded more serious now. Fox shot him a look from the corner of his eye. "I don't know what Hand is up to over there, but there have clearly been some big changes somewhere. Like you said, we've been around this for twenty years, and this is the fastest I've ever seen pieces get shifted around."

Fox didn't say a word. Even to someone as close as Scrib, he couldn't divulge anything that could possibly get repeated or be overheard by someone that would blow it up into an uncontrollable rumor.

"Alright, keep your secrets," said Scrib, "but you know with my position I do know of a few things going on."

"I'm counting on it," said Fox.

"Still a no on the reading then? It could help relax you some to have that kind of light entertainment."

"Entertai-? Wait, people actually get a kick out of reading those books?"

Scrib glanced around awkwardly. "Well, yes. How else are they supposed to sell?"

"I don't know, I just thought having and reading all these books was just something people did to look and act classy and dignified, not that they actually got some kind of thrill…okay now what?"

Scrib had slowly broken into a kind of maniacal laughter as Fox tried to defend himself.

"For all your capabilities, Fox, you are completely helpless in the department of art and emotion."

"Yeah, I get that a lot," Fox threw back. "Are you going to explain, or am I marching back to the mansion now so that I can go wallow in pity?"

"Characters, Fox, people like characters. Write one well enough and people can see them in their mind, they can relate to their struggles and their decisions, and they find someone they want to root for. People get very attached to characters within a story, as well as the worlds they live in. You'd be surprised how many people are kept up at night thinking about characters from a story."

Fox shook his head. "Sure, I guess I understand a little."

"So, is that still a no on the book? You know I always carry one with me here in case you say yes."

"Sorry, it's still all fake to me," said Fox. "It's just not something I can get invested in when it's not real. I've had too many real adventures to be able to care about one that isn't." He left without getting a drink for the private rail line back to the complex, thinking about whether he had enough fire in him to keep training or to go take a nap.

Scrib might be right that he needed some recreation, but with all the nerves rumbling under the whole company, this was the last time for doing that. He needed to stay on top of everything to make Hand's job easier and provide the company as much of a lifeline as he could. As a Big Eight member, he owed at least that to everyone.

His hopes of a peaceful trip were dashed when he hopped onto the train and saw Zelda and Leaf. Leaf was sitting in one of the corner seats while Zelda was leaned up against a poll.

"Oh great," said Fox dully.

Zelda raised an eyebrow. "And that's supposed to mean?" she asked.

Fox sighed and sat down diagonally from them, wanting to put as much space between them as possible without making it too obvious.

"I assume you've already talked to Lucina?" he said.

Zelda folded her arms. "No. I haven't seen her since before your match." When Fox didn't add anything else she continued, "Something happen? Other than that guilt-ridden performance you put on out there?"

Fox had opened his mouth to address the first question, but the second had left him frozen. He gaped at Zelda for a second before recollecting himself. "Sorry. What?"

Zelda sighed. "You looked like you were her mom out there or something-,"

"Kind of a cold thing to say," muttered Fox.

"-always trying to cover for her or get her involved or let her have the next shot."

"Whoa whoa whoa!" said Fox, waving his paws around. "Where is all this coming from?"

"It was pretty obvious," said Zelda. "That stunt you did at the end of the second game was stupid."

"If you mean when I told her to take my second life, that was me trying to make a tactical decision, and yeah, it was a bad judgment call. I already apologized for that, thank you," said Fox irritably.

"Oh, and I'm sure she loved to hear how bringing her in to back you up was bad judgment," scoffed Zelda. "You could've handled what was left of Roy and fought Mario with a huge advantage."

"Look, I just wanted to keep her involved-."

Fox stopped mid-sentence, realizing what he was saying. Zelda's expression didn't change, nor did she make any other indication that she had just blown Fox's argument up in front of him. She just waited while Fox's mind put the pieces together and Leaf looked between the two in amazement.

Perhaps that was the reason he made such a poor decision in the heat of the moment. Was he still feeling guilty for his gamble with Link so long ago?

They came to a stop near the complex and Zelda and Leaf got out while Fox lagged. Leaf glanced back at him before turning to Zelda.

"That was intense," she said.

Zelda shook her head. "Sometimes he's just too smart for his own good," she said. "He overthinks things too much, tries to do more than he can. Not too surprising, honestly, given his history."

Right as they got to the front door of the complex, it burst open. Zelda stepped back in alarm, her hand still extended towards the door.

Link was standing in the doorframe, and Zelda felt her stomach sink when she saw he was holding a newspaper in his hand from Corneria News.

"Uh, hi, Zelda," he stumbled. "Marth just found this-."

"Give it to me," Zelda demanded, turning her hand over.

Link tossed the paper over to her.

"Great," sighed Zelda after reading through Kaitlin's article. "Where's Hand?"

"Where do you think?" said Link.

Zelda threw the paper back at him and left Leaf behind to run towards Hand's office.

"What's got you so worked up?" growled Bowser when she shot past him near the dining room.

Zelda bolted through the rooms and down the halls, even daring a teleportation at one point in her impatience. When she arrived at Hand's door she didn't even knock, she just burst through.

She immediately wished that she had knocked. Inside, she not only saw Hand, but several board members. They all looked at her.

"I-," blanked Zelda, not able to come up with an excuse fast enough.

"It's fine," explained Hand to the board members. "Zelda is quite aware of the situation. I'm sure that doesn't surprise any of you too much."

They turned away from Zelda as if she was no longer there.

"We need a statement," one of them said. Zelda recognized her as the board member that was in the box seats on opening day.

"Won't that just cause more problems?" said Hand.

"This has been on the front page of two major publications now, one of which, I might add, is typically very favorable to this company."

"You need to give not only us but every other investor out there some confidence that you are going to handle this," said another.

"I am handling this," said Hand somewhat crossly. Zelda had never seen him speak like that to someone before. "In case you happen to be unaware of the competition you're investing in, we've made multiple changes-."

"We are quite aware of what we're investing in, Hand, that's why we're demanding you make a public statement. We don't care what your champions are doing, we aren't their boss. We're your boss, and your job is to keep this company profitable. These past few months have not been so. Even the past few years have been stagnating."

Hand exhaled quite violently out his nose and took a few seconds to reply. "Fine," he said, "but I'm releasing it over the weekend."

"We're not asking you to make a scene of it. Just make it evident you are aware of the situation and that it will be taken care of."

The board members began to filter out of Hand's office. Some of them even gave Zelda a smile or a wave, but she didn't return any of them. It was taking all her self-control to not glare at them as they passed by. When they all left and she could no longer hear their footsteps, she locked onto Hand.

"What the hell was that?" she demanded.

"Zelda-," started Hand, but she was not accepting that he wasn't as mad about this as she was.

"I mean really. Coming into your office and treating you like that-."

"Zelda!"

Hand's voice rang sharply this time, and Zelda's rant was cut off before it could go anywhere. She sheepishly closed her mouth and looked off to the corner of the office. "Sorry," she said.

"I let you help me work on this problem together because I trust your wisdom," he said, quite calmly given how tense he looked, "but you have to acknowledge the restrictions that we're working with here. Like it or not those people are my bosses, and if they don't like the way things are going, they can toss me out whenever they like and shut this whole thing down. If you want to continue to help, you're going to have to learn how to work with them some, and that includes not glaring at them whenever you see them." He added the last bit with a knowing glance.

"How did you-?" stammered Zelda. She was quite certain she had not let any emotion show on her face.

"I've known you for well over a decade, Zelda, I can tell when you're trying hard to not set someone on fire. Speaking of which, Cap's room the other day…"

"I…uh…don't worry about that," said Zelda, her eyes going wide at the mention of the epicenter of her rage.

Hand nodded rather unconvincingly. He turned to sit at his office desk and pulled out a laptop. "So," he asked, "what are we going to put in this statement?"

Zelda thought it was quite strange he was asking for her input so soon after telling her off, but she didn't dwell on it for long. His question had got her mind running again.

"Well, we've come up with a lot of ideas so far," she said, "what if we just, you know, threw the kitchen sink?"

"How do you mean?"

"Put all of our plans into the statement."

Hand stopped, his hands hovering above the keyboard. He looked up at Zelda and said, "You do know that whatever we put in this people are going to expect us to actually do, right?"

"Yeah, and I think it's time we let everyone know what's going on," she added. "If everyone is in on what's happening, we can recruit more people."

"You want me to let everyone know that we might be cutting three quarters of the champions?"

Zelda blinked. "Okay, maybe leave that part out."

"Alright hold on," said Hand, imploring her to slow down. "Let's think through what it is we want to do before we make any decisions. Whatever we decide on is going to have a permanent impact and we're not going to be able to take it back, so how about we start with acting like we're going to do nothing and work our way up."

They both inhaled deeply and took a few moments to exhale as they relaxed themselves. Zelda calmly took a seat across from Hand. Despite how much it aggravated her after what she had just witnessed, she started by saying, "Alright. So, you need to make a statement."

"Correct," said Hand.

"And it needs to be released this weekend?"

"Yes, I believe I can delay it until then. Stories that break on the weekend tend to not gain as much traction as those released during the week. Remember, the point of the statement is to provide assurance and stability, not get everyone into a panic."

Zelda propped up her head with her arm in the chair and began tapping her cheek with her finger. "So, perhaps we don't want to announce a whole ton of new things. If we go too crazy, people might think we're desperate. I mean, we are a bit desperate, but they don't need to know that, right?" she finished with an awkward smile.

Hand raised an eyebrow. "You'd be a terrifying businesswoman."

"Maybe we use the statement to churn up some excitement? Use the doubles matches to hint at upcoming changes in the future? That way it interests people without making it seem like we're just throwing things at the wall…even though we are kind of doing just that."

Hand reclined back in his chair and began rocking back and forth. "Simply advertising won't cut it for the board, though. Sure, it achieves the goal of not causing a panic, but acting as if nothing is wrong will make a lot of important people unhappy."

"Important how?" asked Zelda.

"Money," said Hand simply. When Zelda rolled her eyes he added, "Like I said, it's something you're going to have to learn how to work with if you want to help. What you saw just a bit ago is what half my job entails."

Zelda rapped her knuckles across her skull a few times before perking up and saying, "What if we turn this into something that actually makes the company look better?"

Hand stopped rocking in his office chair. "You want a statement on financial problems to make us look good?"

"Sort of," said Zelda, leaning forward in her chair. "We know that there's a problem, however we are, and this is totally honest because you and I having been doing so for weeks now, we are looking at…uh…improving…or…enhancing or whatever our…company…to better suit the changing times. Something along those lines?"

Hand processed this for a few seconds, completely motionless. He was staring glassy eyed just over Zelda's shoulder. She wondered if he had zoned out completely before he spoke. "You're suggesting making us look adaptable by acknowledging there's a problematic trend while indicating we are already in the process of making changes and that we are prepared as a company to do this when needed and without hesitation."

Zelda nodded. It sounded a lot better coming from Hand.

Kaitlin's article was as tender as possible in how it handled the telling of the story, but even she couldn't avoid dropping in a few bombshells that were too obvious to ignore.

"Stagnant or even receding viewership numbers…uninspired fans and events…an obscure future."

Zelda was reading the article aloud to Fox, Marth, Link, Leaf, and Bowser out on the training grounds. The article had quickly started making its rounds that afternoon. Even the Captain had stopped his workout and was sitting on the grass near the vertical jump wall with the paper in one hand and his other holding his chin.

"That doesn't sound very positive," said Link.

"By Kaitlin's standards, it's a verbal assassination," said Marth bluntly. "She has always been partial to us."

"What's Hand's plan?" asked Fox. Him and Zelda had put their scuffle over Lucina on hold for the time once the news broke.

"He'll have a statement sent out over the weekend. He also mentioned before I left about maybe having a meeting with all the champions to try and put together a plan."

"Well, in that case," rumbled Bowser, "there's nothing we need to worry about until then. C'mon you." Leaf snapped out of her trance and hopped up to follow him into the gym. They waited until the door had shut behind them.

"Is it just me or is Good Guy Bowser showing his face a lot more than usual?" asked Link.

"He's just trying to keep the rookies preoccupied," said Zelda. "It's not like they can do anything about this, and if there are cuts, they'll be the first out the door."

"Come again?" asked Marth.

"Ah, damn, I forgot." Zelda grimaced. Marth, despite his senior ranking amongst the champions, technically equal to Zelda, had never been fully made aware of the possibility of massive cuts later this year if things didn't improve.

"So, what's your plan?" he asked her.

"Hm?"

"You're hardly the kind of person who sits around when problems arise."

Zelda folded her arms. "You've already helped with some of those, for what they're worth."

"The interviews?" Marth asked. "I guess those were interesting enough."

"We need to go bigger," said Link. "Way bigger."

"Patience is a good thing to have here," said Zelda knowingly. "The last thing we need to do is spin our wheels looking desperate."

Fox felt several pairs of eyes on him.

"What're you all looking at me for?" he asked.

"You're the natural leader," said Zelda. "Any ideas?"

Fox gestured wildly at the entirety of Marth. "Hello? Living king anyone?"

Marth put his hands up. "I was just helping Hand earlier. I didn't know how serious this was until today."

"Ideas Fox," snapped Zelda, patting her hands together.

"I don't know, creativity isn't really my…" he trailed off, thinking about a previous conversation. He looked at Zelda, long enough to make her narrow her eyes and wonder what he was about to say.

"The doubles teams," he said.

"What about them?"

"Make them permanent. Every pair made for this round stay together."

Zelda's jaw dropped a little. She now understood what Fox meant by the knowing stare.

"Whoa, wait, are you serious-?" she tried to push back, but Link had latched on quickly.

"No, wait, that's a great idea," he said. After fending off an enormous eye roll from Zelda, challenging his intelligence, he continued, "Think about it. Every duo we had today was something no one had ever seen before. Hell, they hardly even knew how to fight together properly. Each group is like having another brand-new champion. People will be crawling all over each other trying to see how different teams play."

Link looked around brightly.

"That's really not a bad idea," said Marth nonchalantly.

Zelda gave a defeated sigh. "I'll run the idea past Hand."

Link and Marth left to go get some training in. Fox was too far drained at this point to want to attempt any workouts, so he walked with Zelda back to the mansion.

"Are you sure about this?" she said. "You know this means you'll be paired with Lucina-."

"Yes, I know," snapped Fox.

"Don't get short with me. For all I know, you're still moping about how you've been treating her."

"Stop acting like I don't know how to handle myself."

Zelda gave him one final eyeroll before breaking off in the direction of Hand's office. Fox dragged his paws the best he could up the stairs towards the fourth floor. All he could think about now was a lovely shower and a nap. Having to fight near midday in summer meant he got to feel his fur turn into a personal radiator capable of cooking him.

"Hey! Hey Fox!"

Fox picked his head up. He had just arrived on the fourth floor, and his long-time buddy Falco was waving him down with his feathered arm from party central. Clearly, he had not been made aware of the article making its rounds through the mansion yet.

"What?" he said groggily once he had gotten close enough.

"Can you help me install this explosive into the ceiling?"

Fox stared at him, dumbfounded. "What?" he repeated.

"It's just a little prank for Cap. C'mon, I just need-."

"No."

"What? Why?"

"I don't think Cap is going to be in the mood for that kind of thing today," said Fox offhandedly.

"What do you-?"

"And if that thing goes off and blows a hole directly underneath Zelda upstairs, you won't have a room left to clean up this time around."