Story of Smashers
Chapter 4: Guessing Games
"So, out with it. What's the new announcement?" Mewtwo inquired.
"Everybody." Master Hand proclaimed, getting the attention of everyone. "I have three new fighters to announce for the fourth Super Smash Bros. Tournament. Please go to the auditorium for the formal reveal." He said, motioning everyone to go there.
Mewtwo followed, but couldn't help wonder why he didn't get a formal announcement like this. As everybody walked, there was a lot of talk and wondering about who it could be.
"You think one of them is Young Link?" Link asked his cartoon self.
"I doubt it. I don't want a third version of me to compete with." Toon Link said.
"Well, Doc already came back." Mario pointed out.
"Yeah, but Luigi's not really a third version of you anymore. He's really his own character now." Link pointed out, knowing how much Luigi's style of fighting evolved from the original tournament.
"By that logic, I suppose Roy is ruled out since we have Lucina. And the whole Roy Koopa thing." Marth sighed sadly. "He was like, my best friend in the Melee tournament. I didn't care that he was low-tier."
"I wouldn't be so down about Roy, Marth." Ike tried to encourage his friend. "He's really popular with the Melee fans. And that version of Smash Bros is one of the most popular video game adaptations of the tournament. Heck, he was added back in Project-"
"Shh!" Marth quickly hushed his Fire Emblem friend. "Master Hand hates to hear about 'that mod'! I don't mind it, but those tournaments of it are underground for a reason."
"Oh." Ike said, never really knowing about Master Hand's dislike against the modified Brawl Tournament. "OK, I guess."
Things went awkwardly silent between Marth and Ike as Ness walked ahead, next to his pal Toon Link.
"I hope Lucas makes it back." Ness voiced his hope to Toon Link.
"I hope Young Link doesn't comes back." Toon Link grumbled. "I mean, three of me? That's ridiculous."
Ness rolled his eyes. "Seriously, Toon. It would be nice."
Toon Link sighed. "Of course it would. I know that. We were all friends. But don't get your hopes up. It'll make things easier so we don't get crush by our disappointment."
"I guess. I mean, I've got Mewtwo. I'm happy about this." Ness smiled softly.
Toon Link nodded back, also grinning. "And I'm happy for you too, Ness."
Ness dashed ahead to see his old friend Mewtwo further up in the line. "You have any thoughts as to who might be in this announcement?"
"I doubt any Pokémon characters." Mewtwo voiced. "I came back pretty recently, and six Pokémon are pretty good for what our franchise covers at the tournament."
"I hope Lucas comes back." Ness said to Mewtwo. "He was a bit of a fraidy-cat, but he was really nice and… he helped fill this empty hole I had when you left. Even with you back… it's only partially filled. I'm not sure if I'm explaining this right, but…"
Mewtwo silenced Ness by softly putting his hand in front of Ness's mouth. "I understand what you mean, Ness. Aside from meeting your friend, I would love to see another powerful psychic like yourself."
Ness nodded. "Yeah. He's pretty powerful himself. I mean, he helped defeat Porky when he fled Onett and time-travelled to Lucas's world. That no-good backstabber. He royally screwed things up in his world, but Lucas put a stop to it. His world, the Nowhere Islands, were restored… but at the cost of his mother's and brother's lives."
"Wow. That's pretty deep." Mewtwo said.
"Yeah. But he told me things were better after he left to go home when the Brawl tournament was over. Made amends with his father and he's getting along well now. We kept in contact with letters and phone calls, but he's gone silent recently. I hope he's OK…" Ness muttered.
"I hope so too, Ness." Mewtwo said, hugging the young boy. "I hope so too."
Samus, armored in her Varia Suit but with her helmet off, grimaced as they walked. There were two popular choices from her series as DLC, and she was praying that neither one of them got in.
The first-most popular choice BY FAR was her long-time nemesis Ridley, who had destroyed her home and had brutally massacred her parents. And after THAT, Ridley helped to destroy the Chozo race, who had taken her in as a kind of foster child after she was the only survivor of her planet's destruction. Needless to say, if Ridley was DLC, it meant living under the same roof as him, and it would take every ounce of willpower she had to not murder him.
The second-most popular choice for Metroid DLC wasn't someone Samus wanted to live with, either. Dark Samus. Samus despised her Phazon-based doppelganger, being responsible for the spread of Phazon, a dangerous and deadly cancer-like substance in her home galaxy. Along with nearly infecting Samus's entire galaxy with Phazon, Dark Samus killed three of the only people that Samus could actually call 'friends'. It would take every ounce of willpower she had to not murder HER, either.
"God forbid they both get in." she grumbled under her breath. Personally, she was hoping for one person she still DID have as a friend: Anthony Higgs. During the events of the Bottle Ship, a time she was emotionally struggling after the death of her baby Metroid, he was the only guy there friendly and affectionate towards her. He had helped save her life too, snapping her out of her emotional breakdown against Ridley. It was a time she hated to talk about, but she couldn't be more thankful for Anthony. Still, she would have to wait and see like everyone else.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of walking, the Smashers arrived at the large auditorium.
"It's about freaking time!" Bowser sighed in exasperation.
"Line up and take your seats." Master Hand said to the Smashers as they walked in, completely ignoring Bowser. Most of the Smashers sat with other characters from their own franchise: Mario with Luigi and Peach, Bowser with his son, Link with Zelda and Sheik, Fox with Falco, etc. Ness was the sole rep for his EarthBound franchise now, so he decided to sit with his friend Mewtwo.
Zelda sat down next to Sheik, a weird moment considering that they were technically the same person. Master Hand had actually brought the Zelda from Ocarina of Time back, who carried the 'Sheik' persona while she stayed there.
"A bit awkward, huh?" Zelda said to Sheik, looking over to her.
"I'd say the same." Sheik chuckled a bit, relaxing in her chair. "At least we don't have Toon Zelda to make things more awkward."
"Toon Link is already livid at the idea of Young Link possibly coming back." Zelda said.
"Who would want three of them under the same roof?" Sheik replied, imagining the confusion a Link, Toon Link, and Young Link would all bring.
Meanwhile, Shulk was forced to sit down next to Sonic. He was among the last ones in there, and NOBODY wanted to sit next to Sonic, leaving only one seat at the side of the auditorium for Shulk to sit it. Right now, the floor was looking pretty appealing.
"So Shulk… you can see the future and all that, right?" Sonic asked, like an overly-hyper young child.
The wielder of the Monado sighed. "Yes."
"So… that means you know who will get in as DLC, right?"
"Sonic, it doesn't work like…"
"So is it Tails? Knuckles? Amy? Shadow? Dr. Eggman? Actually, I wouldn't really want it to be Eggman, but I could beat up Egghead any time I wanted. Or maybe Shadow, I could really show that faker who's the real faker! Or the real one? I mean…"
Shulk sighed. "Shadow is an assist trophy, Sonic. I don't think assist trophies in the current game can be DLC."
"Well, that still leaves Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Jet, Sticks, Rouge, Cream, Blaze, Elise…" Sonic shuddered at the memories that last person brought up. He never wanted to touch human lips again after that. "I take that last one back. I mean SHE'S the one into bestiality, not me! I was dead at the time. Wait, does that mean she's into hedgehogs AND the dead?! Oh, that is just sick and wrong!"
Shulk grimaced at this. "I'm… going to try to find another seat." He muttered, walking away quietly as Sonic tried to cope with his disturbing revelation.
Mario sat between his brother Luigi and the love of his life Peach. "Think they'll be another character from our franchise?" Mario asked.
"I doubt it." Luigi said. "I mean, we already have you, the doctor version of you, me, Peach, Bowser, Rosalina, and Bowser Jr. You could argue for Yoshi, Wario, and DK and Diddy as well. That's like…" Luigi started to count on his fingers. "Five, six, seven Mario characters. Eleven if you include spinoff characters. And that goes to an absolutely massive eighteen if you include Bowser Jr's Koopaling alts."
"Hmm… Maybe we'll get Daisy?" Peach suggested. The three were quiet for a moment before bursting out into laughter, the idea being considered ridiculous by them.
"Oh, that's a good one, Peach." Mario laughed. "Daisy. Heh. But seriously, any ideas? And I mean, GOOD ideas?"
Peach stopped her laughter, tears in her eyes. "Captain Toad seems reasonable."
"What about that whole 'no jumping' thing, though?" Mario asked.
"Didn't stop characters like Ness and Captain Falcon, who don't even jump in their own games." Luigi pointed out.
Speaking of Captain Falcon, he was trying to flirt with a certain bounty huntress and failing at it… miserably.
"Come on, babe. Just one date. That's all I ask. You really could fall in love with THE FALCON!"
Samus rolled her eyes, having to unfortunately sit next to the F-Zero racer. "Falcon. You can't seem to get this through that thick skull of yours. I have said no for the past three tournaments, every single time you've asked me. I have refused you a total of 137 times. What makes you think the 138th time will be any different?"
Falcon smirked. "You know what they say, babe. The 138th time is the charm!"
Samus could only sigh, weighing her options. On one hand, one date with Captain Falcon MIGHT make him shut up and get it through when she shows that she didn't enjoy the date. On the other hand… it was a date with Captain Falcon.
"One date, and you'll stop bothering me about this?"
"Probably not." Falcon smirked smugly, attempting to caress Samus's hair. "But you'll love the Falcon anyway." He then started to move his hand down, attempting to insert his hand into Samus's Varia Suit.
Samus grabbed his hand out of there, held it in front of him with an iron grip, and crushed his hand, surely breaking several bones.
"AHHH! MOTHER OF…!"
"If you ever try that again, you're going to lose a lot more than one hand." She said darkly. Falcon ran out of the auditorium, screaming for Doctor Mario… who was in the auditorium with the rest of the Smashers, but Falcon kinda forgot about that. Soon, someone approached the empty seat.
"Is this seat taken?" a blonde Monado-wielder asked.
"Go ahead." Samus said. Shulk sat down, pretty relieved.
"Let me guess, Sonic?" Samus smirked.
"Yes. Oh goodness, he is AWFUL!" Shulk snapped. "He never cleans up his side of the room which makes my room a biohazard, he never stops stuffing his mouth with chili dogs, and he won't stop asking me the next week's winning lottery numbers! Mario must have the patience of a saint to put up with him in those Olympic Games events they do."
"I can't say that I blame you." Samus comforted the young man. "Falcon gets on my nerves in similar ways. He just can't seem to get the word 'no' through his head. I wouldn't mind having a guy, but not someone like Falcon."
"You wouldn't? You mean… you're open for dating?" Shulk asked.
"I suppose so. I mean, if the guy was decent. Wait. Are you trying to ask me out?"
Shulk blushed, his face glowing bright red. "Oh no no no no. I… I think you're a very beautiful woman Samus, but I only have eyes for Fiora. I guess what I was trying to say is… if you ever wanted to try dating, I think there's plenty of guys here that are available. You have Little Mac, you have Ike, there's Lucario and you guys have a lot in common if you can get over the fact that Lucario is kinda-sorta…"
"A Pokémon?" Samus finished. "Thanks, but I'll pass on dating outside my own species… Although… hmm. I'll think about it, Shulk. And I'll get back to you on that. Promise."
Shulk chuckled, a bit nervously yet partly in disbelief. "Really? Oh, well uh… thanks."
"ATTENTION!"
Everyone in the auditorium stopped speaking with their friends/pals/mortal enemies to pay attention to Master Hand, who was up on-stage to begin.
"Thank you." Master Hand said. "Now that I have your undivided attention, I'll start the announcements momentarily. All of the upcoming DLC characters are backstage and will come forward when they are announced. But first, I think a formal introduction for our first-ever DLC character is at hand! Pardon the pun. Mewtwo, come on up here!"
Mewtwo levitated up to the stage. "Well, thank you Master Hand. I, for one, am glad to…"
Master Hand looked at the clock. "Oh drat. Sorry Mewtwo, we're behind schedule with a match in 45 minutes. I'll have to cut your speech short." He said, levitating Mewtwo back to his seat.
"Hey! I didn't even get to…" Mewtwo was cut short as he was unceremoniously dropped into his chair. "…No respect for the ultimate Pokémon." He grumbled.
"In any case, give a warm welcome to our second-ever DLC character. He's a veteran, and I'm sure the Brawl Tournament goers will remember him. The Boy from the Nowhere Islands, give a round of applause to Lucas!"
Ness's jaw dropped in both awe and delight as Lucas dashed up to the stage, a confident grin on his face. Mewtwo simply smiled, happy for Ness and eager to meet the new psychic.
"Thank you, Master Hand." Lucas said. "I'm glad to be back from Brawl, and I hope I can do a good job representing the Nowhere Islands and my family in this tournament."
Lucas stepped off-stage, immediately dashing up to where he saw Ness. The two hugged each other, glad to be friends once again.
"Oh Lucas, I'm so glad you're back! With you and Mewtwo back, things are looking really bright." Ness smiled.
"Mewtwo? The Pokémon you told me about during the Brawl Tournament?"
Ness nodded, motioning towards the Psychic-type Pokémon. "Now don't be scared, Lucas. He's a…"
Ness stopped mid-sentence as Lucas confidently approached Mewtwo, holding out his hand. "Hey there, Mewtwo. I'm Lucas. It's nice to finally meet you."
Mewtwo seemed surprised as well, before chuckling and shaking Lucas's hand. "I thought you said he was a bit of a fraidy-cat."
Lucas looked at Ness, and then at Mewtwo. "Ever since the events of what Porky did and the Subspace Emissary incident, I've become a lot more confident in myself. After Porky and Tabuu, I feel like I could face anything. I'm not so scared anymore, Ness."
Ness only smiled, offering the seat next to him for Lucas to sit on. The three psychics would get along just fine.
"Now for our third DLC character announcement!" Master Hand proclaimed, all of the attention turning back to him.
"I think our Fire Emblem fans will be happy to hear this one."
"Probably Chrom…" Marth sighed in disappointment.
"Representing the Game Boy Advance era of Fire Emblem, I give you the Young Lion, Roy!"
A familiar redhead walked up to the stand out of the shadows. Many of the Brawl newcomers had confusion written on their faces, but most of the Melee veterans such as Marth, Link, and Mewtwo recognized him right off the bat. But Roy was no longer the lanky teenager from Melee. Apparently, he hit the gym HARD, because Roy was far more muscular and fit compared to when he was in the Melee tournament.
"Wow. Roy is… quite attractive now." Peach said, trying her hardest not to blush.
"I think we found another candidate for you." Shulk chuckled to Samus, with the bounty hunter also blushing before she could react.
"I have pretty much the same things to say as Lucas. Just replace 'Brawl' with 'Melee' and 'Nowhere Islands' with 'Pherae'." Roy said, getting a chuckle out of the audience. At least, from the Melee veterans. "But in all seriousness, I've been training quite a bit. My moveset is a bit different, and I think you guys will see that I've stepped up my game. I look forward to battling all of you and making new friends."
Roy was met with applause as he stepped off of the stage, going back up to greet Marth.
"Welcome back, pal." Marth said with a genuine smile on his face, hugging his friend. "Come on, I'll introduce you to Ike, Robin, and my descendant Lucina."
Roy sat in between Marth and Ike, with Ike being the first to introduce himself. "Hey there. Marth has told me a lot about you. I'm Ike, leader of the Greil Mercenaries. It's a pleasure to meet you."
Roy smiled. "It's great to meet you too, Ike."
Ike smirked a little bit. "But don't expect any sympathy from me on the battlefield."
"Wouldn't expect any less than your best."
The white-haired man next to Ike nodded. "And I'm Robin. I'm the Tactician for the Shepards. It's… kinda-sorta like a mercenary thing like Ike's. I also hail from Ylisse, which is actually Marth's homeland of Akaneia but thousands of years in the future."
Lucina stepped up. "And I'm the Hero-King Marth's great-great-great-great…"
"Descendant." Marth finished for her.
"I see." Roy nodded. "Well, it's great to meet you all."
Shortly after Roy finished his introductions to the rest of the Fire Emblem cast, Master Hand spoke up again. "And finally, last but most certainly not least, give a round of applause to…"
"Talk is cheap, Master Hand. I can introduce myself just fine."
The famous fighting wanderer Ryu came out of the shadows, gave a simple wave, and sat down in a spare seat. The crowd roared in applause to see the famous fighter from Street Fighter join Smash Bros.
Master Hand was silent for a moment after the applause died down. "A-And that's Ryu." He chuckled awkwardly. "So, with all of the-"
Crazy Hand soon floated over to Master Hand. "Uh, brother…"
If Master Hand had eyes, he'd roll them. "What is it, Crazy?"
"It's about… you-know-who. We need to talk. Privately."
Master Hand seemed to be truly stunned for a moment before regaining his composure. "Err, right. In the back." The two Hands floated way into the back of the auditorium, out of sight from the rest of the Smashers.
Despite being far in the back, Master Hand's exclamations of surprise could clearly be heard as Crazy Hand surprisingly whispered quietly.
"No way. You actually got him?!"
"…"
"He accepted?! So the deal went through!"
"…"
"He's already in the back, waiting to be introduced?!"
Master Hand turned around to see said guest, and Master Hand somehow did a double-take. Despite being only a giant hand. The guest simply nodded quietly as Master Hand floated back up to the stage.
"Err, yes. Sorry about all of that. Turns out we actually have one more new fighter to introduce. A rather… unexpected fighter."
A bit of whispering went out up in the crowds, wondering who came (from what they could tell) so last-minute.
"Who could be so last-minute?" Meta Knight wondered.
King Dedede shrugged. "I don't care, as long as I get to whoop their butt!"
"Who do you think it could be, Lady Palutena?" Pit asked his goddess.
"I don't know, but from what Master Hand said, I think it'll surprise all of us." Palutena answered.
"As long as I get to kick their butt, I don't really care." Dark Pit said, completely apathetic.
"All right, all right. Now, settle down." Master Hand said to the clamoring audience, before taking a deep breath (somehow). "In any case, extend a round of applause for our newest fighter…!"
The sound of boots walking down the auditorium silenced Master Hand, soon stopping at the end. Not even a breath was uttered from the audience.
"I believe you will recognize me." The guest said simply.
The audience was dead silent before everyone shouted in shock and confusion simultaneously.
"CLOUD STRIFE?!"
Super Smash Bros © Nintendo
All 3rd-Party Characters © Their Respective Owners
Yep, I decided to condense the timeline a bit here and introduce ALL DLC characters and stages at this point. I'm not going to be too finicky about the chronological 'debut as DLC', because that would complicate things. Here, Lucas, Roy, Ryu, and 'surprise character' Cloud are all introduced at once. Dream Land 64, Peach's Castle 64, Hyrule Castle 64, Miiverse, Suzaku Castle, Super Mario Maker, and Pirate Ship will likely appear as stages for future fights.
Heh. In a weird way, procrastinating on writing this chapter was a good thing. Also, sorry for Mother 3 spoilers. XP
And also, this will likely be the only mention of Project M in this fanfic. I'd rather not distract from the story on why that is, so just PM/note me for details on that should you desire them and refrain from asking about it as a review or in the comments.
