"Please put some pants on. It's noon." Marth said, picking up a pair of Ike's pants and throwing them at him. They smacked him in the face, but the man only grumbled and moved the article of clothing so they were no longer blocking his eyesight.
"Oh come on. I don't have any classes today, just let me chill."
Marth sighed. He could sympathize with his roommate wishing to take a day off, and Ike was the kind of person who didn't like getting out of his pajamas unless he had to. But Marth was someone who took pride in his appearance, and he couldn't help but want his long time friend and roommate to do the same.
The door swung open, and the third resident in their dorm came in. Roy had a huge grin on his face, a copy of the school newspaper in one hand. Marth and Ike's stomach dropped.
"Did you guys see the news?" They both shook their head, and Roy proceeded to lift the paper up, pointing to the headline they were supposed to read. "Somebody robbed a bank!"
Ike inwardly groaned. He knew where this was going, but asked anyways. "And you're so excited about this because�"
The redhead was quick to jump on his roommate's question. "Because it sounds just like something that would happen in Master Handman!" He laughed. "The culprit wore this snazzy black coat to hide their identity and everything!"
"They still make those comics?" Marth said incredulously. "And you still read them? I stopped after like the sixth grade."
Roy was only briefly offended. "So? Just because it's make for kids doesn't mean older people can't enjoy them too." He walked away from the doorway and set the paper down on his desk, then took a seat. "More importantly, it gave me a great idea."
This was it. The thing Marth and Ike did not want to hear.
"How cool would it be if we dressed up in our own, like, superhero personas and tried to track down the person who did it?"
His roommates frowned, unconvinced. The three of them had been friends for a long time, and Roy had quite the track record of having his "great ideas" blow up in their faces. His last idea of having a ghost hunt nearly got them arrested for trespassing, and now the redhead wanted them to run around the city pretending to be superheroes? This was more than just asking for trouble.
"I have an even better idea." Ike said. "Let's let the police handle it." Marth nodded in agreement, but Roy pouted.
"Come on! Where's your sense of justice? Did you forget that we have something most police officers don't? I bet if we combine our powers we could find the bad guy in no time flat, and we'd be doing the authorities a huge favor!"
They both opened their mouths to disagree, to tell him that he was in way over his head, but Roy just kept talking. "I even know what we should do first. Since our villain robbed a bank, a very stereotypical place to steal from, I started thinking that maybe they'd hit another predictable place next. Like the art museum!"
This was sounding more and more ridiculous.
"I even talked about it with this guy in class I know, and he wants to join in too! So how about it, tonight we hit the art museum and see if we can find anyone suspicious?"
"Ok, hang on a minute," Marth finally got a word in. "You already planned this with someone else? And you want to start tonight? Aren't you rushing into this a little too fast?"
Roy shook his head, "We'll be fine! All we gotta do is make the costumes, and Ike and I have the rest of the day to do that. We'll even make one for you while you're in class. Come on, guys! This'll be fun, and it's not like we're doing anything bad."
Marth and Ike exchanged glances, both still reluctant to go along with Roy's plan. Looking back over, prepared to reject his idea, they saw that their friend was pulling the puppy dog eyes.
Damn it.
"Fine," Ike sighed. "But only for tonight. We're not making this a regular thing, and if we don't find anything, then it is what it is."
Roy was positively beaming at Ike's words. He wrapped an arm around each of his roommates' shoulders, pulling them in for a hug. "I'll get started on the costumes!"
Finding Peach was easy. Figuring out how to talk to her was not.
All it took was a quick internet search. After all, there weren't exactly a lot of flower shops in Mashs city. Though Dark Pit, Lucina, and Toon Link had gotten lost quite a few times, they made it to the store by sundown, which actually turned out to be fantastic timing on their part. With the store closing soon, there wouldn't be as many customers, and the three would have the chance to talk to the florist with little interruption.
However, upon walking into the store, the trio was greeted not by blonde hair and a sweet face, but by the short stature and squeaky voice of a hocotatian man.
Dark Pit never understood hocotatians. Sure, there were many alien species that had migrated to earth and lived with humans during the planet's history, but the winged boy didn't know why hocotatians in particular chose to do so. The oxygen in the atmosphere was poisonous to their people, what purpose could they have for staying on a planet that would kill them? And from the airtight suit that the flower shop employee wore, it looked like their species hadn't even evolved to withstand the harsh conditions yet.
"Are you three looking for anything in particular?" His voice shook Dark Pit out of his thoughts. Unsure of what to do, the trio had been idly browsing through the arrangements on display, pretending they were actually interested in buying something.
"Oh, uh, we're just looking around for now. Thank you." Lucina said awkwardly, and the little man went back to his business. But Dark Pit was tired of beating around the bush. They wouldn't be getting anywhere anytime soon if no one had the guts to make a move.
"Where's the lady that runs this place?" He blurted. Lucina looked like she wanted to scold him for being so forward and making them look suspicious, but the employee didn't seem to think the request was strange.
"Oh, she's in the back. I'll go get her for you." With that, he jumped down from the stool he'd been sitting on and disappeared through a door behind the front counter. After a few moments, he stepped back out, the lady they were looking for following behind him.
The three of them were taken aback at first. This Peach looked so different compared to the girl they knew in their timeline. The girl standing in front of them looked so much healthier; having quite a bit more weight to her than their Peach's thin frame, her hair fluffier and a more vibrant shade of blonde, her eyes shining. Most important of all, the smile on her face was filled to the brim with genuine happiness.
"What can I do for you today?" She asked, and none of them were quite sure how to respond.
Peach looked a bit confused when she was met with silence, but finally Lucina spoke up. "We need to talk. You don't have to believe us, but at least hear us out. Please." Relief struck them when the florist nodded, though a surprised look graced her features. That was a bit easier than they thought it was going to be. The blonde moved to pull out extra seats, arranging them in a circle before sitting down.
The hocotatian employee also returned to his stool as the three moved to take the seats offered to them. Dark Pit wasted no time in diving into their story. "We're from the future," he began, and Peach's face had already twisted into one of curiosity. "In our timeline, there was this group of people. They went around the city and hunted down people like you, who have supernatural powers. We weren't around to know what their original motive was, but what does matter is that they succeeded."
Peach's expression hardened, but her little employee had his mouth wide open in shock. Perhaps Lucina was being a bit hopeful, but it looked like they believed their story so far. She continued. "A lot of, um, bad things happened after that." The bluenette knew it would be less convincing to leave their story vague, but she didn't quite have the stomach to go into detail just yet. Sneaking a glance at Dark Pit and Toon Link, it looked like they weren't too thrilled to talk about it either. "The situation had gotten to the point where the best thing we could do was use my power and travel back to this time, so that we could warn you and the others and hopefully prevent what's going to happen. So, here we are now."
The trio did not receive an immediate response. Peach simply sat there, fiddling with her fingers. "Ah, this is a lot to take in." She spoke quietly.
"Do you not believe us?" Lucina asked.
"No, no, it's not that," Peach said, and the three breathed a sigh of relief. "It's just quite shocking to hear about. I think your story is a little too far-fetched for you to go to the effort to make it up and then try to trick me with it, and I don't think anyone would have a good reason to lie to me in the first place. So, I do believe you." The trio took a collective sigh of relief; incredibly grateful Peach was willing to put trust in them. "Thank you for coming to warn me about what's going to happen. But what's there to do to prevent ourselves from getting caught?"
Lucina hummed in thought. None of them had really thought about it, more concerned with being able to reach all the people they were looking for. "Well, I'm not sure," she admitted. "Make sure you don't go anywhere alone, I guess, and keep a phone on you at all times. But we'll make sure to check up on you every now and again while we're out looking for the others."
"I see." Peach said. Her eyebrows rose, as if she realized something. "Do you three have a place to stay?"
Lucina wasn't going to lie, that statement really got her hopes up. She didn't doubt that Peach was kind-hearted enough to let strangers stay in her house, but she was still surprised that the blonde was so quick to offer. "We brought enough money to get a hotel room." Not wanting to sound too desperate, she left out the bit about not having enough for more than a couple of nights. Thankfully, Peach got the message.
"Don't waste your money on a hotel." She shook her head. "We've got plenty of room at our house, and if you want to keep an eye on us, why not just stay over?"
"You'd let us do that?" Dark Pit was just as surprised as Lucina was. Peach smiled and nodded. She walked into the back room and returned a few moments later with a purse and a pair of keys in hand.
"It's just about time for us to close up. Olimar, can you get them settled in upstairs? I'll be right up after you guys."
The little hocotatian man climbed down from his stool and walked over to the back room. "Sure thing," he called back to Peach, and then looked at the trio who would now be staying with them. "Come on, the house is upstairs." He explained, walking into the room and making his way up the stairs nestled in the corner.
"So you two live together?" Lucina asked, breaking the small bit of awkward silence that started to form. She hadn't remembered Olimar being in their original timeline, and was curious as to why the guy was here now.
They reached the top of the stairs. Olimar had to climb a little ladder to reach the light switch, but he flicked it on and illuminated the living room. It was a comfortable looking place, with plush carpet, a soft couch sitting across from a small TV, and a bookshelf in the corner. To the right was a small kitchen, and Lucina presumed the couple of doors across the room led to the bedrooms and bathroom. "Yeah," he answered her question, but to Lucina's disappointment, did not elaborate. Instead, he walked over to a cupboard and climbed into it. The hocotatian pulled out spare blankets and pillows, and the three took that as their cue to help him carry the items into the guest room. "We've only got one spare bed, but we can make a pile of pillows on the floor." He said, and Toon Link perked up. Even if it was on the floor, having a giant pile of pillows and blankets sounded wonderful to him.
Peach appeared in the doorway soon afterwards. Together, the five of them laid out the bedding on the floor. "Great, now that that's done, I'll start on dinner." She grinned. "While we eat, do you think you could tell us more about the other people you want to look for? You know, the ones you said have powers, like us? I'd love to know what they're like!"
Samus sighed, slipping off the helmet of her power suit as she stepped into her designated bedroom.
"Bad day?" Robin asked, sitting on the bed in their respective side of the room, a book resting in their hands. Granted, every day had been terrible for Samus during the past month, but Robin was right. Today had been particularly bad.
"Yeah," she said, testing a switch on her suit. Normally, she was allowed to take it the thing off in her bedroom and rest in more comfortable clothing. However, today she had failed her third escape attempt, and the switch to take the suit off wasn't functional, condoning her to wearing the thing for the rest of the night. Though the metal the outfit was made of enhanced her powers whenever she wore it, it also left her feeling exceptionally drained after prolonged usage of the substance. The next chance she had to take the suit off would not be for awhile, and there was no doubt that when that time came, she would be absolute exhausted.
Walking across the small space, Samus reclined into her own bed, trying to get as comfortable as possible. She didn't really succeed.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Robin had been the smarter of the two. Instead of denying the offer to work with them, like Samus had, the bookworm had agreed. So far, they had been playing the role of loyal underling, and had not yet had to suffer being yanked around by an autopilot program. Still, Samus knew Robin was just as trapped as she was. If they made one wrong move, they'd surely face the same fate she had. Perhaps one of these days, they would be able to pull off an escape attempt, but Samus doubted the chance would come any time soon.
"No, not really." Samus replied, rolling onto her side and attempting to get some rest.
"Oh good, there you are!" Roy said as Marth approached the back side of the art museum, their designated meet up spot. "I brought your costume." He pulled a long blue piece of cloth out of the duffel bag he was carrying and handed it to Marth.
"Are these the curtains?" The bluenette exclaimed, running his fingers over the material. "These are the curtains! I can't believe you tore them up to make a cape!"
Roy only shrugged his shoulders. "Chill, we can always buy new ones." This excuse did little to ease the irritation of his roommate, but he slung the cape over his shoulders anyways. As it settled and draped down his back, it was also revealed that a poorly drawn shield was in the middle of the cape. The symbol was quite similar to the crude pictures Ike and Roy were also wearing on the back of their shirts. Roy had an odd pattern that looked like it was supposed to be fancy, but with his limited art skills, looked more like a five year old's doodle. Ike, meanwhile, had the more discernible picture of a flower.
"What are these symbols supposed to mean?" Marth asked.
Roy could only offer a shrug. "They just look cool." He leaned back against the wall. "Now we just have to wait for Link to show up; he's the guy I told you guys about."
"I can't believe we're actually doing this." Marth grumbled, tapping his foot impatiently.
Only a few minutes passed when a blonde hylian approached, clad in a green shirt with his custom-made symbol, a trio of triangles, and a rather silly floppy green hat. Roy waved him over, smiling. "Hey, you made it! These are my friends, Ike and Marth. You guys, this is Link." The two bluenettes waved. Link didn't say anything, but smiled and nodded his head to both in greeting.
At this time, the sun had already set, and they were quite a few hours into the night. This was the prime time for criminals to show themselves, and the four were ready to begin their adventure.
"Okay Ike, can you give us a lift?" The guy in question grunted as the concrete beneath their feet shuddered, pushing the group up to the air vent. Roy and Link had no problem getting their scrawny frames to fit into the narrow passageway, but Marth was going to have a bit more trouble shimmying through. Ike was thankful to learn that there was no way his muscular build could fit into the passageway, and instead he would have to keep watch outside.
Their newly designated watch guard returned the ground to its original position as Marth, Roy, and Link started their venture through the vents. For a long while, nothing had happened. The three had been crawling around for what seemed like hours, and Marth was just about to ask if they could go back, when Roy suddenly gasped.
"What? You see something?" He whispered, suddenly interested. Had Roy been right? Were they really going to catch a criminal tonight?
"Nah, I just hit my funny bone." Marth wanted to scream.
They continued the trek for a few more minutes when Roy let out a second gasp, but immediately shushed his friends before Marth could fire off a complaint. "I think I see someone!"
"It's probably just the security guard," the bluenette hissed.
"No way, he's not wearing the uniform!" Roy paused, observing the figure's movements for a few more moments. "And it looks like they're trying to take something. Shit, it's the criminal!" Quickly, he unscrewed the screen from the vent and dropped down into the room. Link and Marth had no choice but to follow him down.
The room was dimly lit, and Marth could only barely see the outline of an extremely short, fat man holding a piece of presumably stolen artwork. "Hold it right there buddy, where do you think you're going?" Roy all but shouted, pointing an accusatory finger at the figure.
The person let out a hearty chuckle. "You three look ridiculous!" He snorted. "What are those supposed to be, costumes? It ain't Halloween just yet!"
Marth was thankful for the dark now, as no one could see the embarrassed blush that practically turned his face red. Link and Roy seemed unaffected by the insult, however. "You're trying to steal that thing, aren't you?"
"Yeah, you caught me in the act, but that doesn't mean you can actually stop me!" The man cackled, making a break for the door. Link sprinted after him, getting there before their target could and throwing his arms out to block the exit. In an odd turn of events, the man did not change his strategy. Instead, he charged straight towards Link, opening his mouth and chomping down on the young adult's arm. The hylian screeched (the first sound he'd made that night) and kicked out, sending the man flying back a few feet before grasping at his arm in an attempt to stop the blood that began to leak from the wound.
Marth saw this as his chance, and attempted to grab at the stranger to apprehend him. However, just as the bluenette was inches away, the thief turned around and pulled a move that Marth would forever hate the man for.
He farted.
"Holy shit!" The teen screamed and held his nose as the foulest stench he'd ever been exposed to assaulted his sense of smell. How could a presumably human body produce such an odor? It actually brought tears to his eyes, and he could only hopelessly watch as the criminal made his escape, wildly laughing as he disappeared down the hall.
Roy, the only one not crippled by an attack, was quick to start running after the man, his arm raised, but Marth stopped him. "Don't!"
"What? But he's getting away!" Roy cried, as if they actually still stood a chance of stopping the man. But it was more important that Marth did not find out if the disgusting stink he'd been forced to breathe in was also bad enough to be highly flammable. At this point, the bluenette didn't doubt the possibility, and he did not want to rely on the sprinklers to douse the flames.
Not two seconds after the thief vanished, the night guard of the museum burst into the room. He shined a light on each of the three, confusion written all over his face. "The hell's going on? What are you kids doing in here?"
Roy was quick to raise his arms up in a sign of peace. "I swear, we can explain!"
So apparently Ike doesn't have a symbol on his cape. I didn't even realize it until I had to write that little snippet, hopefully I gave him the appropriate one. Also, on a more important note, I plan to have updates for this about once a week, give or take. Thank you all very much for the positive feedback I've gotten so far!
