Peach pressed the red button on her phone, ending the call with Rosalina. She dropped the hand which held the device to her lap and sighed, leaning her forehead against the wheel of the car.
"Are you scared?" Olimar, seated in a baby chair in the backseat, called to her. He unbuckled his own seatbeat and crawled up to the seat next to her.
"No," Peach laughed humorlessly. "This just isn't going to be easy."
Her friend said nothing, but there was nothing that needed to be said between them in the first place. Peach took a steadying breath, then slipped the phone back into her purse and pushed the car door open. Olimar followed suit, and the two of them made their way up to the front door of Ness' house.
They both paused, gathering their wits and taking a moment to review the advice Rosalina had just given them about how to talk with upset parents. Hopefully, the information would be helpful.
Finally, Peach lightly rapped on the door three times, a few seconds passing before another blonde woman opened the door. "May I help you?" She had a pleasant smile, which only served to twist Peach's gut with guilt.
Regardless, she smiled back. "Yes, I'm Ms. Toadstool, and this is a close friend of mine, Olimar," she introduced, and the parent's eyes shined with realization.
"Oh, right, you must be Link's mom! Thank you for letting my son stay over at your place; he hasn't caused too much trouble for you, has he?" The other woman inquired.
"Ah, no. I'm not Link's mom, I'm just... a legal guardian," Peach tried to amend before she could stop herself, cursing her own sudden incompetence at speaking with people. She normally felt so perfectly composed when it came to social interaction, but perhaps the nerves were starting to get to her. The other woman must have noticed, too, by the way her cheerful smile dipped ever so slightly.
"There's actually something we need to talk with you about," Olimar spoke up, causing any genuine cheeriness to vanish from the mother's face. It was not replaced with anger, or disappointment; she looked surprised, more than anything.
Regardless, she stepped away from the entrance and held the door out for her two new guests. "Please, come in then. I hope it's not anything too terrible," she pressed her lips together as Peach and Olimar walked into the home. They followed her as she led them down the hall and into a small, but quaint living room.
The two took seats on the couch as the mother offered drinks, but they both respectfully declined. She took a seat in an armchair that sat to the left of the coffee table, yet kept her polite posture.
"I suppose this is about Ness, isn't it?" The mother stated matter-of-factly. It was an easy assumption. After all, what other reason would they have for visiting the family?
Peach nodded, but didn't immediately say anything. She glanced around the room, observing the candles, family memorabilia, and various other knick-knacks in the room as she contemplated where to begin with an explanation. The pictures caught her eye more than anything, though, as Peach fondly examined the smiling faces of a slightly younger Ness, his mother, as well as a small blonde toddler in the more recent photographs.
But her gut twisted with guilt as she remembered why she was here. "Yes." Peach finally said, twiddling her thumbs. "It's a long story, and I'm not sure where to begin," she admitted, frowning.
Ness' mother, however, seemed to be shockingly patient. "How about from the beginning?"
Peach and Olimar were reluctant to comply, neither of them quite sure how to make their far-fetched story seem more believable. Eventually, they started their story just as the mother requested, beginning from the moment the trio of time travelers had arrived at their shop. They explained the story of those three, and how not only the two of them, but Ness and quite a few others had come together to both help the time travelers and save their own futures.
However, the two finally paused as the moment they had been dreading came. Perhaps they could have made up a lie, some kind of excuse as to why Ness would not be coming home for a while, but both Peach and Olimar knew deep down that it would be unfair. Even if a lie would've been more comforting, the mother deserved to know the whole truth.
"We'd planned a rescue mission, and went through with it on Halloween." Olimar explained further. Ness' mother nodded along, and Peach was surprised that, despite her tensed body language, the woman had shown no signs of disbelief.
"And, well, Ness teleported into the house, and never came back out." Peach finished. She hoped the other woman understood what they were trying to say. A lump was starting to form in Peach's throat, and she didn't know how much more explanation she could handle. "I'm sorry," she choked out.
The mother sucked in a breath, and Peach could tell her eyes were starting to water, too. It was a few moments before she spoke to them.
"I knew about the whole business with the time travelers; Ness told me about that part. I think, in the back of my mind, I knew he was in danger." She stopped herself, frowning as she thought of what she needed to say. "This whole situation is strange. I felt so disconnected from it, that I didn't take it seriously. And now..." the woman wiped at her eyes with the sleeve of her pink shirt.
Peach shook her head vigorously. "Don't blame yourself for this!" She hastily replied.
"That's right." Olimar added. "If anything, this is on us. We were the ones to jump onto the idea of a rescue mission, and maybe if we had been more cautious, this wouldn't have happened."
Ness' mother said nothing, instead giving a slow nod. Her gaze lowered to her lap as she quietly accepted the reality before her.
"I promise, we'll do everything we can to get him back." Peach said.
Roy strolled into the office a little more casually than he should have, which threw Douglas completely off-guard. The officer hadn't expected the redhead to pay him a visit.
"Am I interrupting something, Officer Falcon? The secretary lady said it was okay to come talk to you." The younger explained, leaning against the far wall and crossing his arms.
Douglas shook his head, clearing away the paperwork on his desk by shoving it into a drawer. "You're fine, have a seat! And I told you to call me Captain Falcon." He said, laughing. "What's the problem?"
Roy grabbed the chair sitting in the corner and dragged it over to the opposite side of Douglas' desk, taking the seat he was offered while staying face-to-face with the officer. "Well, my friends and I ran into some more trouble, and we haven't really told anyone yet because it has to do with the whole fiasco from the first time we met," he explained, referring back to the incident in which he and his friends had been arrested.
Douglas nodded along, waiting for more explanation. The idea that those kids had gotten into more trouble bothered him, especially since Roy had yet to explain what had happened.
"And, y'know, no one back then really took us seriously, except for you. So I figured you'd be the right guy to come talk to." The redhead elaborated.
"You've got that right." Douglas replied. The officer still hadn't figured out the mysteries behind the first case involving the teens, and if they had encountered more trouble that had to do with the same subject, he was curious to learn more. "What happened?"
Roy started with the basics; how Marth had come back one day with an observation that led to them piecing together a rather strange theory, how they'd met up with Meta Knight the next time they tried to do their own investigating, and formed a night patrol team for their own, unorthodox version of crime fighting.
"Oh, I get it, you came here to take my job!" Douglas laughed at his own joke. Perhaps he should have condoned the actions Roy and his friends had taken, as it sounded like quite the dangerous hobby, and more than likely undermined the abilities and authority of the police force. Still, the officer couldn't help but feel a little proud of their actions and willingness to do what they believed was right.
The redhead shook his head, but he gave a light laugh along with the officer. "That's a tempting offer, but I've got a different career in mind." He shook his head. "I mean, we originally started going out because we wanted to find clues, not to go crime fighting. And for a while, we didn't find anything. But here's the thing; when we went out on Halloween night, we actually ended up running into something serious!"
Douglas furrowed his eyebrows, frowning. He stayed silent, however, waiting to hear the rest of Roy's story.
"We heard this commotion going on in a nearby jewelry store, so we went in to check it out, and we ran into this koopa Ike had seen causing trouble before. There was another guy there, too, but he was invisible, so we never found out who he was. Anyways, I think they were trying to rob the place before we stepped in. They ended up escaping, too, but not before Marth got some information out of the invisible guy." The redhead said.
The younger paused to take a breath and gauge Douglas' expression. The officer nodded along, urging Roy to continue. "Our theory was right, there is trouble brewing, and it has to do with our powers. These robbers are part of a group that's been targeting people who have them, and as far as we know, they've already abducted four people."
Douglas' eyes widened as his throat ran dry. He quickly turned towards the computer sitting at his desk, clicking and typing furiously to pull up the data he was looking for. "I don't suppose they told you who those people were." The man frowned.
Roy shook his head. "No, but I'm pretty sure one of them was a lucario. It was friends with Meta Knight, and it's disappearance was kind of what clued us in that something wrong was going on."
Douglas nodded, flipping through files of people who had recently been reported missing. There was, indeed, a lucario on record. The officer scrolled through more of the files, searching each one to differentiate between those who possess powers and those who didn't. His gut flip-flopped when Samus' record appeared; previously, it had served as a terrible reminder that his long-time friend was gone. Now, clues were in place that pointed towards the truth behind her disappearance, and a new hope surged in his heart.
"It's strange, though." He narrowed his gaze at the screen. "You said there were four victims? We only have three people on file that fit your criteria; Samus Aran, Robin Vincent, and Lucario."
The younger of the two chewed on his bottom lip, thinking. "That is weird. Maybe they took the fourth person and no one noticed, so they didn't report it?"
"It's a possibility." Douglas noted, closing the opened files and turning back to Roy. "Still, thank you for coming in and telling me this. I'll definitely keep an eye out and try to do some investigating on my own."
Roy nodded vigorously, standing from his seat and shaking hands with Douglas. "Don't mention it. Thanks for listening, we'll keep you updated if we find out anything new."
The officer smiled, waving as the redhead exited the office. "Alright, but stay safe out here!" He called out.
"Thank you for dinner, it was wonderful." Ike complimented, standing by the doorway as Palutena saw him out of their home.
The green-haired woman's smile shone with pride. "Yeah? I guess I'm getting better at this whole cooking thing."
Granted, it wasn't that hard to boil noodles and use pre-made spaghetti sauce, but Ike held his tongue. Instead, there was something more pressing he wanted to discuss. He stopped by the entrance to the home, and eyed their surroundings to make sure Pit was not within earshot. After all, he did not want to accidentally encourage the winged boy to do something reckless. "There's something I need to tell you, though."
Palutena raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"
"When my friends and I went out on Halloween night, we ran into that same koopa that attacked Pit."
The green-haired woman frowned, folding her arms together in front of her. "Really? What happened?"
Ike scratched at the back of his head. "We tried to catch him so we could take him into the authorities, but he got away. We did end up learning a few things from the encounter, though." He explained, pausing to gauge Palutena's expression. She seemed thoughtful, eyes locked on the ground as she processed the information, and he continued. "Our theory ended up having some credibility, because there are people out there who've been targeting anyone who's got superpowers."
Palutena's frown deepened, but she stayed silent, as if waiting for Ike to finish. "I just thought I'd let you know, since this is something Pit's involved in, and it's putting him in danger." The blue-haired male added.
She still didn't look pleased, however. "Ok, but doesn't this mean you're going to run into trouble, too?" Palutena looked back up at Ike, her eyebrows knit in concern.
The other was taken aback. Admittedly, he hadn't thought about it from that perspective before, but the concept made sense. Roy, Marth, Zelda, Link, Meta Knight, himself; they all had powers, so wouldn't they eventually become targets too? If so, how safe was it for them to continue night patrols around the city?
Ike shook his head. Their group had sustained a few injuries here and there, but ultimately, they had done just fine whenever these confrontations happened. If anyone decided to come after just one of their group, it was a guarantee that nobody was going down without a fight.
"We'll be fine, don't worry about us too much. After all, we did almost take down that koopa, and no one on our side ended up with severe injuries."
Palutena didn't seem completely convinced, but she hid it behind a smile all the same. "If you say so. Just don't get too cocky, now."
The blue-haired male nodded, turning around and placing a hand on the doorknob. "It's alright, I won't. Goodnight, and thanks again for dinner."
Palutena nodded back to him as he shut the door behind him. "Goodnight."
"So..." Robin began awkwardly. "What are you reading?"
Shulk frowned, looking up from the text held in his hands. He didn't look particularly disturbed or angry, but Robin inwardly squirmed under his gaze nonetheless. It had been quiet in the study for a long time, and they had thought it a good idea to break the silence with some friendly conversation. However, the idea seemed to backfire, as now Robin felt nothing but a bit uncomfortable.
"It's nothing too important," The homs replied, lightly shuffling through the pages as if to demonstrate his point. "it's just a book on mechanics."
"Oh, so are you interested in engineering?" Robin pressed, now eager at the prospect of their conversation going in a friendly direction. Samus' son had remained awfully closed off ever since he came to reside within the mansion, and Robin wouldn't deny they were curious to learn more about him.
Shulk's lips bent into a soft smile, folding the book closed and placing it next to him on the couch. "Yeah, mechanical engineering, if you want to be specific."
It was Robin's turn to smile as they abandoned their own work and leaned back in their desk chair. "Impressive. I'm an archaeologist, myself."
"I guess that's why they want you studying that tablet," The blonde's tone shifted, his gaze narrowing at the object in question, which sat on Robin's desk. He absentmindedly tapped his fingers against his abandoned reading material, and the other noticed the slight change in his demeanor.
"Yes," Robin continued, "This piece is one of the very few artifacts recovered from the Crata ruins. There is actually a theory out there that suggests our powers could come from that place." They paused, sighing. "But there are many theories out there that pertain to the origin of people like us, and none of them have any reliable credibility. It's frustrating for many historians, including myself."
Their fingers scratched against the armrest of their chair and their eyesight shifted to the wall as Robin thought. "It's even more frustrating that this is the theory Ganondorf and the others want me to investigate. Call me superstitious, but there's just something about those ruins that's horribly unsettling."
The white-haired person flicked their gaze back to Shulk, surprised to see him suddenly so distraught. His mouth was pressed together and his gaze was fixed on the floor; he had since stopped tapping against the hardcover of his book.
"Ah, I'm sorry," Robin tried to amend. "I didn't mean to go on a tangent."
Shulk shook his head, however, refocusing on the moment. "I don't mind," He smiled once more, but Robin noticed it was a tad less genuine. The homs picked up the book he had previously stopped reading and stood up. "But if you'll excuse me, I think I'm gonna head back to my room for a bit. I'm a little tired."
With that, he had left Robin to the silence of the room and their own thoughts. Their gaze slid back to the tablet resting on their desk, and the white-haired person couldn't help but think of how the homs had such a change in attitude once they had brought up the subject of the ruins. Perhaps he and that place shared a connection?
Robin tried to think back, to see what kind of history they could remember not of the physical ruins, but of the people involved with it. The last expedition team had set out fourteen years ago, but an unknown accident had cost almost all the members their lives.
Their eyes widened in realization, grabbing at their laptop on the desk and flipping it open in order to check their facts. They dug around the internet and brought up the old article that had detailed the event, and Robin's memory was correct. The sole survivor of the expedition had been none other than the four year-old child of two researchers- Shulk Soss.
The white-haired person's mind was spinning as they dug further to see if they could find a picture of the said child. The facts could be lined up, but Robin wanted to see more definitive proof before they came to a conclusion. Shulk was not a common name, and they knew the homs had to have been adopted, as Samus was human herself. How far of a stretch was it to assume Shulk Soss and Shulk Aran were the same person?
Finally, Robin managed to find a picture of the survivor after surfing through a few websites. Sure enough, the child in the photo shared the same wispy blonde hair and light blue eyes that Shulk had. Their features were strikingly similar as well, despite the baby fat still present in the younger's face.
The revelation certainly answered why Shulk responded to the topic of the ruins in the way he did, but now Robin had even more questions. Did he remember anything from the ruins? Why had he never talked with anyone about the subject?
Robin sighed, resting their arm on the desk and their head in the open palm. The more they thought about it, the more unhelpful this new information seemed. Whatever had occurred certainly had to have been traumatic for a four year-old child to witness. It explained why no one pushed too hard to get information from him in the beginning, all those years ago. But still, even if it had been many years, Robin did not want to be the person to question Shulk while it was still obvious he was uncomfortable with the topic.
The door to the study swung open once more, and Robin hurriedly closed the laptop as Ganondorf strolled into the room. He lowered himself into an armchair with a frustrated groan, and Robin contemplated why this room in particular seemed to be the preferred place to come to for the ridiculous, villainous brooding that some of the house's residents were prone to.
"I don't know what to do," Ganondorf lamented. He was talking to himself more than Robin, but they could tell he appreciated that someone was, at least, listening. "No matter what, that boy refuses to talk. I've tried bribery and threats, but he won't say a word." He sighed.
Robin raised an eyebrow at him. At first, they had been confused, their mind still on the revelation of Shulk's past. Then Robin remembered the most recent member of their strange household, still locked inside a room in the basement, and they understood what the orange-haired male was actually talking about. Still, those were the only tactics Ganondorf had tried, and the man was already at a loss? It was unusual, and he could see the confusion on Robin's face.
"I don't want to resort to physically or mentally torturing a child." He explained. "Perhaps you think I'm an evil person, and I won't blame you for thinking so. But I'm not completely devoid of morals."
How about some cool surname trivia, because those gave me a little trouble this chapter, lol. Robin's last name comes from David Vincent, who is male Robin's English voice actor. There's also debate on whether or not "Soss" is actually Shulk's canon last name, but I think it's cool regardless of the legitimacy. Even if the name does sound like "Sauce," lol. I had no idea if I should've given Lucario a last name or not. Whoops.
Also, to the guest reviewer I can't PM: I'm totally okay with you writing a story based on this one; as long as it's not, like, a carbon copy of this one or anything (which I'm sure it probably isn't)! Actually, it makes me really happy that someone likes this story enough to be inspired by it! I'd love to read it, if you ever decide to publish it.
Finally, as always, thank you for reading!
