Story of Smashers
Chapter 2: Friends Reunited
Splash!
The splash of cold water against his face woke Mewtwo up from his slumber, becoming instantly alert from the sensation. He scanned around the room, noting that he was inside another one of the Smasher's room. Half of the room was covered in a red fiery color while the other half of the room (and the half they were in) was coated in a blue and calm aura-like color.
"You awake now?" asked a voice holding a gray bucket. It turns out that it was the Lucario competing in the Smash tournament, having just woken Mewtwo up from his slumber.
"Yeah… definitely awake." Mewtwo muttered, holding his head. He stood up slowly, using his levitation powers to make that much easier.
"Uhh…" Lucario stuttered, looking straight at Mewtwo. "You have a little… something… on your face. Well, more than a little, I guess."
Mewtwo seemed confused. "What are you talking about?"
Lucario walked away quietly, fetching a small mirror from his nightstand drawer. He then held it in front of Mewtwo.
Mewtwo was silent, staring at his reflection. "Crude, permanent marker." he remarked. "In the shape of many silly markings to make me look like a mutant clown. Curse that puffball. I never liked her anyways… Excuse me for a moment."
Lucario was silent as he heard Mewtwo walk into his bathroom. Just a few moments later, the shower was turned on.
"Never should've trusted that stupid puffball." Mewtwo grumbled as he washed himself clean. "And I will never understand why most felines lick themselves clean. It seems so inefficient compared to using a shower, and water is just naturally more useful for cleansing one's body. And also…"
Mewtwo kept blabbing on as Shulk and Greninja also came to. Shulk shook his head. "Whoa. Must've fallen asleep." he said, standing himself up. He helped Greninja do the same.
Lucario chuckled, shaking his head. "Looks like Jigglypuff got you guys as well."
"What do you mean?" Shulk asked.
Shulk took the mirror and looked in the reflection.
The resulting scream could've woken the dead. The Duck Hunt Dog could be heard loudly barking after that.
Lucario covered his ears due to the ring, his acute canine senses amplifying the sound. "Geez! What was that for?! It's just marker!"
Shulk trembled. "That's not it. I thought… I thought I saw… him. Zanza…"
Lucario had the most confused expression on his face. "Who on earth are you talking about? Zanza?"
Shulk turned silent for a few moments before speaking again. "Never mind. It's not your problem. I'd rather not talk about it, and I'm probably just imagining things anyways. Anyway, I'll go clean my face off in the bathroom."
Before Lucario could stop him, Shulk walked into the bathroom, with Mewtwo foolish enough to not lock the door. The following exchange was predictable, with Mewtwo screaming.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN HERE?!"
"I'M JUST GOING TO WASH MY FACE IN THE SINK!"
"BUT I'M NAKED! GET OUT!"
"NAKED?! ALL OF YOU POKEMON ARE NAKED!"
"BUT I'M INTELLIGENT! I NEED PRIVACY!"
"WHY ARE WE STILL YELLING?!"
"BECAUSE YOU CAME INTO THE BATHROOM WHILE I WAS SHOWERING!"
"SO DOES THAT MEAN CAN WE STOP YELLING?!"
"NOT UNTIL…! Um… I guess we should." Mewtwo finished in a normal voice. The silence was incredibly awkward as the shower continued to run.
Mewtwo spoke softly again. "Um… you have a surprisingly loud voice for a non-psychic."
"Yeah… I yelled a lot in my home game. Usually, it was FIORAAAAAAA! And then a bunch of battle quotes."
"Who's Fiora?"
"I would tell you, but then I would completely spoil the readers." Shulk said casually, going back to washing his face. "I'm lucky I didn't even give Zanza any context."
A shiver went down Shulk's spine after he said that. He really hoped he was just seeing things in that mirror.
"Zan…? Never mind, I won't ask." Mewtwo shrugged.
"Um… yeah." Shulk said awkwardly. "Anyway, I should probably take you to see Master Hand so he can discuss your moveset and stuff like that."
"Of course. And thanks for showing me around the mansion a bit. It's appreciated. A lot has changed here since the Melee days." Mewtwo said, turning off the shower. He telekinetically lifted up a towel, drying himself with it.
"We should probably let Greninja wash up, too." Shulk chuckled, stepping out of the bathroom with Mewtwo. At this point, Greninja was already up… and cleaning his marker-covered face with his absurdly long tongue.
Shulk had a look of confusion on his face while Mewtwo couldn't help but chuckle. "I thought tongue-cleaning was a cat thing, not a frog thing."
Greninja looked over to them, blushing a bit in embarrassment. "Oh! You uh… you guys are out. Um… please excuse the whole 'tongue-cleaning' thing. My father was an Azumarill. It's a little embarrassing…"
Shulk whispered to Mewtwo. "Why is it embarrassing? I'm not into the whole Pokémon thing."
Mewtwo replied back to Shulk telepathically. "Social stigma. A lot of Pokémon wish not to discuss things or habits that may have been picked up by the father if it is not the same species. It's looked down upon."
Shulk spoke back to Mewtwo telepathically. "I see. Reminds me of the social stigma of a High Entia being half-human. It is typically looked down upon as well."
"High Entia?"
"I'll tell you another time."
The two cut off their mental conversation as Greninja cleaned himself up. "Anyway, I'm good now. Got all of the marker off."
Lucario nodded, looking at the three. "So, what do you guys have planned now? You should probably talk to Master Hand soon and let him know you guys are here."
"I agree." Mewtwo said. "But there is something I wish to do first. Shulk?"
"Yeah?"
Mewtwo paused for a moment. He was really hoping Ness was here. But what if he got the boot? Surviving the Melee to Brawl cut isn't even enough to be safe, as the Ice Climbers could attest. Was the Original 12 a true, unspoken rule where everyone in the original Nintendo 64 tournament was absolutely safe from cuts?
…Then again, if Jigglypuff was still around, he highly suspected that 'Original 12' rule had to hold true for Ness. Hopefully.
"Do you know of a young boy named Ness? He and I were friends during the Melee tournament, and I would like to meet up with him first before we go to Master Hand's office."
Mewtwo crossed his bulbous fingers, hoping that Ness was still around. If he was, none of his matches were seen by Mewtwo.
"Actually, yeah. I have. He's a bright boy, that kid. Last time I checked, he was practicing on the mansion's baseball diamond."
"OK, I'll… wait. We have a baseball diamond?" Mewtwo questioned.
"I thought it was always here." Shulk shrugged.
"It was built back during the Brawl tournament." Lucario said bluntly.
"Oh. Well, care to show me there Shulk?"
Shulk shook his head. "Sorry. I probably need to get going at this point before Sonic screws it up more, if that's possible."
Shulk took out a gas mask, securing it on his face. Lucario seemed a bit startled while Mewtwo let a small chuckle. "Going back to your room?"
"Yep. Need to work on that air neutralizer. I would love to be in my room without this on, but until then… I need protection."
"Godspeed." Mewtwo said as Shulk left, hoping the gas mask would hold up and the toxic fumes wouldn't kill the poor boy.
Lucario watched on. "Well, I guess I'll take you to see Ness. But after that, we really need to let Master Hand know you're here."
Mewtwo nodded. "Understood."
"Then let's get a move on."
Ness watched the ball soar into the air, hitting a home run once again. He had been practicing his swings with an automatic pitcher for a while now. The boy had a passion for baseball, ever since his early elementary days. Of course, despite his proficiency with his bat, he was far more famous for his psychic powers. With the help of his friends, he had destroyed the Giygas threat and awakened his psychic powers.
After that, no school bully dared to mess with him.
It wasn't long after his adventure that he was contacted by someone by the name of 'Master Hand'. He had been given the chance to participate in the world's first Super Smash Bros. tournament. And he never let that chance go to waste. Since then, he had played in every single tournament. His results for this tournament in particular were very good. Master Hand re-balanced him, improving Ness dramatically. He took a number of tournaments in first place, and was considered to be among the best Smashers by professionals.
"Still…" Ness pondered, sitting down in the rafters of the diamond. "…I still kinda wish that a lot of my friends didn't have to get cut."
Young Link was the first cut of Ness's friends. He had to admit, while Young Link was a bit of a troublemaker, he was a nice guy deep down.
The cuts from Brawl to SSB4 caught Ness by surprise a lot more than the Melee to Brawl cuts. Lucas. And both of the Ice Climbers. That was a particularly hard hit, losing his friends made in the Melee era and his fellow franchise friend, Lucas. The only really close friend he had left from the Brawl era was Toon Link.
And finally, there was Mewtwo. Out of all the cuts Ness had seen, Mewtwo's just flat-out didn't make sense to him. Despite Mewtwo being an incredibly popular Pokémon, he never got the invitation for the Brawl tournament. Master Hand explained the reason for that was a tight time constraint, which he supposed was fair enough… until Mewtwo also didn't get into the fourth tournament. It baffled him why Master Hand didn't invite him, but he had already decided not to think about it too much.
Ness closed his eyes, thinking. "But it would be nice to have someone else to talk to. Someone relatable."
"You mean someone like me?"
Ness recognized that psychic voice in his head. Opening his eyes, he looked around to see if the voice was nearby. His eyes made contact with a familiar Pokémon, looking at him with a smile on his face.
"Mewtwo!"
"Hey, Ness! Long time no see!"
Ness climbed out of the rafters, heading out towards Mewtwo near the mansion's West Entrance. He ran over to Mewtwo, immediately hugging him after not seeing him for so long. He then remembered what Mewtwo said on hugs back in the Melee era, letting go. "Oh, uh… sorry. I forgot for a moment that you're not big on hugs."
To his surprise, Mewtwo re-engaged the hug. "You're an exception."
Ness smiled. "So, what are you doing back here, anyways? You didn't make the roster for the new tournament."
Mewtwo nodded. "This is true. But Master Hand extended an invitation for me to be invited as DLC for the tournament."
"Really?!" Ness said in surprise. "That's great!"
Lucario spoke up to Mewtwo. "I really hate to interrupt this happy reunion, but we really should tell Master Hand that you're here."
Mewtwo nodded. "Lucario's right. Ness, I'll meet up with you again right after I get my moveset. And then… we battle."
"Looking forward to it!" Ness nodded in response.
Lucario led Mewtwo back into the mansion, leaving Ness outside to continue practicing.
Soon enough, the two Pokémon were finally at the door to Master Hand's office.
"Well, you ready for this?" Lucario asked his comrade.
Mewtwo shrugged. "As ready as I can be."
The two comrades walked into the Hand's office, only to be greeted by the sight of a spastic left hand tightly squeezing a soft, furry character.
"He's so adorable!" the left hand squealed. "Please, brother! Let me keep him as a pet! Oh, please! Oh, please! Oh, please!"
"Riki… can't… breathe." the poor creature managed to gasp.
"Crazy! How many times do I have to tell you? You can't have a pet, much less someone who's an Assist Trophy!" Master Hand scolded.
"But… but, brother…"
Silence filled the air for a minute or so. Crazy Hand sighed. "Oh fine." he muttered, dropping the little furball and then teleporting away.
The poor creature started gasping for air, before very quickly running out of the office and away from the psychotic hand.
"Looks like Crazy Hand hasn't changed a bit." Mewtwo chuckled.
Just now, Master Hand took notice of the voice and saw who it was. "Mewtwo? You're here?"
Mewtwo smirked, nodding. "Indeed. I've accepted your invitation. And I'm willing to fight in the Smash tournament once more… as long as you balance me better as you promised in the letter."
"Yes, of course." Master Hand agreed. "I'm a Hand of my word."
A purple light began to glow around Mewtwo. He marveled as he felt himself being changed… he felt himself getting stronger. What this meant for his moveset, he didn't know. But he was eagerly looking forward to test this in battle.
Needless to say, he had a match to attend.
Super Smash Bros © Nintendo
Finally, another chapter up. A bit shorter than the previous one, but I'm satisfied with it. I do want to ask something, though. I'm not really sure about the whole 'two Samuses' thing from the first chapter. It made a nice joke I guess, but I don't know if I really want to keep Samtwo as an actual character. I'm thinking of ret-conning it early on so there would be no later contradictions, but I'm willing to hear your suggestions if you want me to keep her.
And of course, read and review.
