Fox convulsed. He wasn't sure how much longer he could go on watching. The match was going by so fast, yet it couldn't be any more painfully slow. Each second, every attack, every failure, he squirmed a little. It didn't make sense how someone could be so consistently unlucky.
Link had resigned himself to staring in shock at the field, wondering how they had messed up this matchup so badly. Newcomers typically had very balanced opponents that provided competitive and interesting fights so they could get their feet under them. This was becoming anything but.
The crowd, at least, seemed to be highly entertained. After so many close matches, the prospect of a blowout was tantalizing to them. They were eating up every moment of misfortune on display.
Fox dared with all his might to glance a look past Zelda, who was mortified, and over to Bowser.
He was as emotionless as he had ever seen him. No reaction to the obliteration taking place before them. There was no response to anything. The only thing Fox could guess was that the armrests Bowser was holding on to were likely under extreme pressure.
"Who put this matchup together?" whispered Link.
"Hand's always at least involved," Fox replied, hoping not to be overheard by Bowser, but it may have been unnecessary with how intently he was focused on the field below.
"You think he was so preoccupied with everything else that he just, I don't know, slipped up?" asked Link.
"Shut up," Zelda snapped at them. She was chewing on a knuckle and had one leg wrapped over the other swinging nervously.
When the fight ended, and the crowd roaring with glee, they all instinctively turned to Bowser. With remarkable control, he patted his armrest. "Well, that was enlightening." He got up and left the box, presumably headed for the champion's locker rooms below. Zelda popped up and tailed behind him. With Bowser out of the room, the others all launched into fretted conversation.
"How did no one figure out that Simon was a master monster killer before putting him up against the newbie who's main gimmick is commanding monsters to fight?" asked Link.
"The crazy assortment of weapons makes sense now," remarked Palutena.
"That…was lopsided, unfair even," Fox groaned. "Did she ever get more than one knockout on him per round?"
"Three zero, three one, three one," Rosalina recounted grimly.
Fox ran his hand through his fur. "Wonder what Bowser is going to say. I've never seen him so…reserved? It was creepy."
"I'm glad Zelda was sitting next to him and not me," said Link. "I thought he was going to snap the chair in half."
"He didn't look that tense actually," added Palutena. "In fact, he hardly looked stressed at all when he started moving. It was just hard to tell with how still he was."
Down below in the locker rooms, an expectant Bowser waited just outside the doors leading to one side. Zelda stood next to him, casting him the occasional glance, but his expression had not changed in the slightest since leaving his chair.
The door behind them leading to the other side of the locker rooms opened. From it, Simon emerged. He paused when he saw the two of them look around at him.
"Oh, hello," he started slowly.
"Well done," said Bowser. "You looked impressive out there for your first time."
"Oh, thank you…sir," Simon responded, awkwardly adding the last bit. Zelda attempted a kind smile, but it probably looked more like a grimace to him. He departed out from under the stadium.
"What're you-?" said Zelda, trying to get a look into Bowser's mind.
"Nothing you need to be concerned about," he shut her down. She gave a little huff and folded her arms.
Much later than Simon, the door on their side finally creaked open, revealing a flat-faced Leaf. Her lips were pursed together, and she didn't quite meet their eyes.
Zelda wanted to ask how she felt, but Bowser was already prepared and cut her off. "What did you think?" he asked.
"It was, uh…fast? Like I couldn't think quick enough? But um…I think I started to get a bit of control of things towards the end."
"Oh?" asked Bowser. Zelda used all her self-control to prevent any kind of look to betray her. If that last round was considered "in control" to Leaf, she was deluded.
"I just need to work on some things, you know?" she continued. "It was my first time. I think I did alright. I can't expect perfection this early on."
She still didn't look at them in the eye.
"Um, Zelda," she said.
"Yeah?" Zelda replied, as if she were made of glass and speaking too loudly would shatter her into a thousand pieces.
"This gear is kinda tricky to get off. Can you help…?"
"Yeah, of course," she said, stepping into the locker room and shutting the door behind them. She got one last look at Bowser before doing so. He still hadn't moved a muscle.
Too be completely honest, the gear wasn't tricky to get off. It was just a few tiny sensors that helped the automation in the arena keep track of their position so it could move them to the appropriate location when they got knocked off the field. Nonetheless, Zelda took care of taking off each individual sensor for Leaf while she sat there.
"My first match," Zelda said, hoping to get Leaf's mind onto something else, "they just threw newcomers into the fray regardless of experience. I didn't know what to expect against my opponent. I only knew Link and Ganon at the time. I was expecting someone to fight with tact and control, so, of course, I got the floor wiped with me by the most obnoxious person of all time."
"Who was that?"
"Cap."
"Really?"
"Yeah, it's wild, but he doesn't bring it up much anymore. People forget these things after a while. You'll have so many fights that they all start to blur together, and you'll stop remembering. No point in fussing over any of them."
She gathered up the sensors and packed them away. When she returned, Leaf was hunched over so much she could clearly see the teardrops falling from her face.
"Leaf? What's wrong?" she asked. "You don't have to get upset over this."
"I know-hic!" she had been packing it in so much she was getting hiccups. "I just…I don't-hic!...I just feel…-hic! UGH!"
She let out a roar of frustration that caught Zelda totally off guard. Leaf then proceeded to pound her fist into the bench so hard Zelda worried she was going to break a finger.
Almost immediately, the door to the locker room was thrown open by Bowser.
"What the hell are you-?" yelled Zelda, hurling a fireball at him. For all he knew, Leaf could have been halfway through changing clothes. He deflected the partially cast flame with ease.
"So now that you're done lying to me," said Bowser with a tone of authority. Leaf quickly sobered up. Zelda felt her hair stand on end. "How about you really tell me what you think."
"I'M MAD, DAMMIT, ALRIGHT!" shouted Leaf. Bewildered, Zelda stepped back from them both. She had gotten the impression Leaf was such a soft-spoken girl. Leaf bolted up and began pacing. "I looked like a complete fraud out there! I embarrassed myself every round! I didn't look like I even belong here! I was pathetic! I got ran over by another newcomer! Every round I thought I had learned something, that I was going to do better, but it never happened! I crashed out so hard I figured Hand was going to show up here and tell me to pack my stuff and leave! What the hell else am I supposed to think?"
Zelda stared at Leaf, disoriented and amazed. She was panting after her rant, and the tears had been replaced by sweat that she had worked up all over again during her outburst. She was radiating frustration. It was like someone had fired up a generator inside of her.
Bowser yet still had not changed his expression. He waited patiently for Leaf to exhaust herself completely before responding with a single word.
"Good."
"What?" Leaf growled through gritted teeth.
"Go blow off some steam. Now that you're serious about this, we can start training again in a few hours."
Leaf stormed out of the locker room. Bowser and Zelda stood there listening to her her pounding footsteps fade away.
Zelda could only manage an incredulous look at Bowser. He glanced one tiny eye at her from atop his enormous body.
"You're not doing her any favors by treating her like a weakling," he said.
"I'm not-," she started hotly.
"Leave her to me. If you want to help, figure out Hand's problem so she doesn't get cut later this year along with all the others."
Zelda shook her head. "How did you know about the cuts?"
Bowser left the locker room. "You're not the only one with connections."
Samus opened the freezer, and the light within flooded throughout the dark kitchen. It was late and she needed some ice cream.
"Didn't realize you were also a night person."
Samus almost jumped, but she maintained her composure and whipped her neck around to see Wolf in the corner, sitting on the shelf with some food he had just cooked in the microwave.
"Could you be any more edgy?" she grumbled. "Sitting in the dark, waiting for people to show up so you can watch them, what a creep."
"Maybe, as a former bounty hunter, you'd understand how bright lights are uncomfortable. They're exposing and make me feel surrounded. It's not that I enjoy the dark. It's a necessity for safety."
Samus glared at his shadowy form from across the kitchen. "Yeah, sure, whatever. Let me know when someone tries to attack you while eating microwave food on the countertop so I can watch out for them."
"So, what'd you think?" Wolf was looking at a newspaper laying on one of the kitchen countertops between them. Kaitlin's article was displayed prominently.
Samus took one look at the article then back up at Wolf. "I should be asking you that. If things go downhill, you know you'll be one of the first to go."
Wolf gave a cold laugh.
"You know it's true," she pressed. "First sign of it all falling apart and the people brought in this time around will be out the door."
He shrugged. "So what? I never assumed I'd be here for too long anyway. This is just a nice vacation for me, and as long as I'm here, I have complete immunity guaranteed by Hand. Corneria stays off my back, and my friends don't have to worry about their doors being broken down any day."
Samus took her pile of ice cream to another counter to sit on across the room. "Why are you guys even here?"
"Who're you talking about?"
"You know. You. Ganon. Bowser. That fat lizard."
"Ridley?"
Samus went mute, resolved to chewing on her ice cream for no good reason.
Wolf didn't press. "Honestly? I have no idea why the others joined specifically, but I can bet confidently that it has to do with Hand."
"What?"
"You heard me."
She put her spoon down, deep in thought. What could Hand have possibly done to that…monster that could've made it not only docile, but willing to come here?
"What did he do for you?" she asked not so indiscreetly. "You talk about vacation and getting people off your back, but you were living it up just fine from what I've heard."
"Like I would ever tell you."
"Then why even mention it?"
"Because you asked."
"Well, now I'm asking you this."
"Too many questions."
Samus threw up her arms in resignation. If Wolf was going to be this ambiguous, her time would be better spent on her ice cream.
He crumpled up what was left of his snack garbage and tossed it perfectly into a can halfway across the kitchen. When he got up to leave, he told Samus, "You ask for too much. Maybe try giving a little first. It doesn't have to be heartfelt, trust me, but you never know when you'll need allies."
"Weirdo," Samus muttered after he had vanished. What the heck was that all about? All she asked was a simple question and he had to turn it into some highbrowed discussion. Granted, she was hoping he'd naturally lead into what Hand could have told that freak to get him to come here, but it wasn't required to answer.
She rinsed out her bowl and placed it on the moving conveyor belt where it would be taken to the wash with machines and cleaned automatically. She left the kitchen and headed for the stairs to begin her long slog up them. The fact they had decided to build these dorms straight up instead of out was becoming a visible flaw.
She was just coming up on the fourth floor, that floor, when she found herself running into Ganon once again.
"Are you always up this late?" she said.
"Are you?"
Samus sighed, thinking about what Wolf had said.
"Falling asleep has been hard recently," she admitted. It felt uncomfortable saying that, especially to Ganon of all people. "You?"
Ganon shrugged. "I just get hungry."
Samus nearly fell back down the stairs.
Fox was tapping his foot impatiently out on the training grounds. He hadn't expected to be kept waiting like this and his fur was beginning to sear. He heard movement and spun around expectantly, but it was just Bowser and Leaf heading for the gym. Leaf had that fierce look of frustration on her face that she had been wearing ever since her disastrous first performance. Fox found it incredible that someone could be even more competitively intense than her counterpart, Red, but she had turned into a ball of raging determination that outshone the entire complex. Fox was familiar with that attitude. If put to good use, as he was certain a long-time veteran like Bowser would, she could become indestructible for however long she kept it up. She'll certainly be a handful for whoever her doubles partner ended up being from here on out.
Similarly, Fox's partner had become a handful in her own way, but through her truancy rather than her determination. At long last, Lucina showed up on the grounds, hair still sticking out in some places.
Fox wanted to tell her off, but he kept choking on his words whenever he tried. Lucina watched him with cold amusement, and when he finally reduced himself to merely jerking his head over to one of the training platforms, she gave a huge, deflated sigh.
Fox had hoped that some training might break the tension a little between them, but Lucina's muteness only made things more awkward the more Fox tried. She was clearly giving off the impression that she'd rather be anywhere in the universe but there, and the only reason she was there is because he was forcing her. Her commitment to practicing some of Fox's strategies was nonexistent at best and straight sabotage at worst. Within minutes, he had flopped onto the grass and given up.
Lucina stood next to him like a statue for a bit. Fox refused to take her bait. One word out of him and he knew he'd be in for a long, potentially deserved, rant. She eventually huffed and walked off back to the complex.
He was at a complete loss. Keeping the duos partners the same was his idea, but he had been completely absorbed with what he thought really was a good idea for the business. It wasn't until later that he had finally run into Lucina and had to come to terms with his decision. The best he could do was get a very unenthusiastic confirmation that she would come out today to practice, but that had gone so poorly it might as well haven't even happened.
"Bit hot for you to be laying around outside, isn't it?"
Fox tilted his head up. Kaitlin was waking up to him. She had a more casual attire on today, clearly not her office wear.
"Is Hand just letting you go where you please nowadays?" He couldn't remember ever seeing reporters on the training grounds or the complex outside of designated events. Hand was always very particular about keeping the press away when he didn't want them disturbing everyone.
"He's been giving me some special access in exchange for helping out."
Fox glanced up at her through squinted eyes. She was indiscernible with the sun directly behind her. "Aren't you supposed to be unbiased as a reporter?" he asked.
"Someone has to stick up for you guys. It doesn't matter what ideas you come up with if the press is against you."
Fox flopped his head back into the grass.
"I saw Lucina looked sulky when she just walked away. What was that about?"
"Just some chemistry issues with trying to figure out some kind of strategy with the duos matches."
"Want an article on it?" said Kaitlin rather tonelessly, like the idea had come to her mechanically and she suggested it as a matter of procedure.
"What? Why would I want that?"
Kaitlin snapped out of her robotic stupor and tilted her head. "Hm, true. You wouldn't like that, would you?"
Fox's head perked back up again. "What're you-?"
"Don't worry about it," said Kaitlin, waving him goodbye.
Fox's head fell into the cool grass once again. Why was everyone so weird?