Lucina shifted in her seat, uncomfortable under the gaze of the officer. He sat across the desk, one leg folded on top of the other as he gave her a bored stare. It was obvious that all of the courage she mustered to explain their situation to a stranger had gone to waste.

She pressed her lips together as the officer opened his mouth and sighed. "I'm sorry, miss, but I don't quite follow with your story here. It's just," He paused, waving his hands around as he tried to find the words. "It's just too far-fetched. You honestly expect anyone to believe all of that? Especially if you have no proof?"

"Well," Lucina sucked in a breath, looking at the floor. The officer was treating her very much like a child that needed to be scolded, which both embarassed and infuriated her. Unfortunately, she could think of no witty or clever response to refute the man's attitude, and was left with no choice but to struggle with her words. "I guess the only proof we have is that we know who's gone missing, and why."

"That's not much proof. People can vanish for many reasons, and if they leave no trail it's easy to make baseless claims." The officer knit his eyebrows; it was clear he was getting tired of having Lucina in his office.

Still, she wasn't quite ready to give up. "Look, it's fine if you don't believe me, but would it really hurt to at least give us the benefit of the doubt and come with us back to that house?"

"Yes." The officer was stern, which only served to increase Lucina's anger. Even if she had been expecting this kind of outcome from the beginning, the rejection still stung. "This is a big city, we don't have the resources to just do whatever we want on a whim. Besides, this could very easily be a trap you're setting for us here."

Lucina grit her teeth. "Why would we set up a trap?" She said, exasperated. It certainly didn't do anything to further sell her story to the officer, but it was a lost cause at this point.

The man leaned back in his chair and sighed once more. "Look, I'm sorry, but realistically, there's just nothing we can do for you. Now if there's nothing more you have to say, then I think this appointment is over." He said, gesturing to the door.

The blue-haired girl scowled at him, but stood from her seat and made her way to the door. She wanted to stop and make a quip, tell him that if her and her friends failed to stop what was to come, that he was going to heavily regret declining their request for help. However, she knew antagonizing the man would do nothing, and instead held her tongue as she briskly walked out of the office.

Dark Pit and the others were waiting towards the front of the police station as she made her way to join them. It seemed her sour expression was enough to imply how the meeting had gone, as no one bothered to ask.

"I knew this was a waste of time," Dark Pit grumbled, crossing his arms in front of himself. "Let's just go."

"Well, at least we know for sure now that we can't expect help from them." Peach said. She was trying her best to stay optimistic, but it seemed there was little to be thankful for in this situation.

Lucina only shrugged, saying nothing as their group began their exit from the building. She was the last one to leave, stopping to hold the door open for another police officer to enter. As the man looked at her to give her his thanks, his jaw dropped open. Lucina raised an eyebrow at him as he stood in the doorway, gawking at her.

"Can I help you?" She asked. Her friends, noticing her falling behind, had turned around to see why she had stopped.

"Ah, I'm sorry, you just..." The man trailed off as he saw the faces of the others, his eyes practically bulging in surprise as he noticed Toon Link. "This can't be a coincidence!" He suddenly shouted.

"What?" Lucina said, her voice less impassive than she intended. A gut feeling told her exactly what this man was thinking about, and her eyes drifted to make contact with Toon Link's and Dark Pit's; they seemed to be thinking the same thing, as well. How were they going to explain their way out of this one? Could they get away with feigning ignorance?

The man furrowed his eyebrows together, placing a hand on his chin as he examined Toon Link and Lucina in particular. "You two look just like these two teenagers I know. I mean, I've heard of people looking alike before, but nothing like this! You're, like," he waved his hands around, as if to emphasize a point. "You're like their carbon copies! How?"

Lucina inwardly groaned. She did not want to have this kind of elaborate conversation in a doorway. "I, um, don't know what you mean?" Her voice wavered, and she could tell by his face that the man wasn't buying into it.

Still, he hid his underlying suspicion fairly well, taking no direct action based off of it. Instead, he just smiled and laughed the subject off. "Yeah, I guess it is just a coincidence then. Maybe I should introduce the lot of you to them! How cool would it be to meet someone who looked just like you?"

Dark Pit opened his mouth, a denial on the verge of his lips, but Lucina beat him to a response. "Actually, that does sound pretty cool." She said, smiling back at him.


Lucina was the last to pile into the car, Peach turning on the engine and looking over her shoulder as she backed out of her parking spot.

Dark Pit had been relatively silent during the walk to the car, but now that they were in the privacy of an enclosed space, he turned around from his seat in the front to face the blue-haired girl. "What the hell was that?" He glowered at her.

While the others looked to the winged boy in confusion, Lucina knew exactly what he was talking about. She pursed her lips, unamused. "We're going to have to meet them eventually. Maybe this way, we can get their help."

"Huh?" Olimar looked between the two of them as they exchanged challenging stares. Toon Link appeared equally confused, observing as Dark Pit eventually scoffed and stepped down, turning back around in his seat to face the front.

Peach hummed thoughtfully as the car slowed to a halt at a stoplight. "I suppose this has to do with what happened when we ran into that Zelda girl. You never did explain that."

"Explain what?" Dark Pit frowned. "You two met Zelda? And you didn't say anything?"

Lucina shifted uncomfortably in her seat, still feeling the guilt for her lack of action that day. The car lurched forward again, and Peach came to her rescue. "Oh, never mind. Just don't worry about it, that's all in the past." She said, turning a corner.

"Well, yes," Lucina replied, absentmindedly twiddling her fingers. "But you're right, this does have something to do with a subject we haven't told you about before, and I think you and Olimar deserve to know."

Dark Pit kept his scowl, dissatisfied with Lucina's decision, but not so opposed that he'd throw a fit over it. Olimar, however, just smiled and shook his head. "Don't tell us just because you feel pressured to, though. Do it when you're ready."

"Alright." Lucina agreed, leaning back against her seat. "Then why don't we have this talk once we meet back up with that police officer and everyone else. That way, we don't have to tell the same story twice."

Toon Link nodded his approval, but Dark Pit narrowed his eyebrows. "I can't believe you're this eager to tell total strangers about this."

"Oh, please," Lucina shot back. "I know this won't exactly be easy, but quit acting like this is a subject we can avoid with these people. It's unrealistic."


After two days and a few phone calls, they decided to meet up at a small restaurant, Cafe Bar, to talk over lunch. The place was a bit of a hole in the wall, the pale pink wallpaper peeling a bit on the edges and the blue chairs creaking as they were sat upon. Still, the place seemed to hold a special charm in the air, and both Link and Zelda had insisted the food was delicious.

Douglas was the first to arrive, claiming a table towards the back and ordering a coffee to sip on as he waited. By the time the waitress came back with his drink, Marth and Link had arrived, their friends in tow. The officer waved them over, smiling. "Hey, how've you kids been?"

"We've been getting by," Roy casually shrugged, sliding into the chair across from the officer. The waitress came by once more to drop off menus and get drink orders from the newcomers, stopping to write the requests down before heading back to the kitchen. "What about you, Mr. Falcon?"

"Just the usual stuff. Aside from what we're doing today, anyways." Douglas replied, picking up a sugar packet and dumping its contents into his coffee.

"It is a little strange, though," Zelda hummed, flipping through her own menu. "To call us all here just because you want us to meet these people who supposedly look like Marth and Link."

The officer sipped at his coffee, pursed his lips at the bitter taste, and picked up another sugar packet. "Well, technically I didn't call all of you here, you just decided to tag along." He said.

"Touché." Zelda shrugged.

"But I'm pretty sure there's an underlying meaning here." Douglas continued, stirring his drink with his spoon. "I guess you guys haven't seem them yet, but the resemblance is just uncanny, and the fact that the two knew each other; well, how coincidental is that?"

He paused to take a drink, now satisfied with the amount of sugar in it. "Also, the way that girl acted when I told her she looked like Marth, it was almost like she knew what I was talking about. I think these people want more out of this meeting than just to see how much they look like someone."

As if on cue, a bell chimed towards the front of the restaurant as the door swung open, a motley group of five strolling in. Douglas waved them over in the same fashion he had done before, sneaking a glance at the reactions of the teens sitting with him. He suppressed at laugh at their stunned faces. "Glad to see you could come." He greeted.

"Thank you for meeting with us," nodded the blue-haired girl. She helped her friend, a portly blonde-haired woman, slide another table over as the other three carried the chairs. They seated themselves as the waitress came by for the third time, dropping off drinks. The poor girl looked a little exasperated at the appearance of even more people, but did her job nonetheless.

Once she was gone, Zelda was the first to speak up. "I remember you two now." She said, pointing to the two other girls. "I ran into you at the grocery store one time, and I noticed you looked a lot like Marth back then."

The Marth look-alike offered a shy smile. "Yeah, I remember you too. My name's Lucina. This is Peach, Olimar, Dark Pit, and Toon Link." She said, pointing to the respective people she introduced. The winged boy didn't seem too pleased that Lucina had done all the introductions herself, but he held his tongue.

On the flip side, the teens began their introductions. "I'm Ike." the blue-haired boy was the last to introduce himself, giving Dark Pit a strange look. "Sorry if this is rude, but," he paused, trying to formulate the words. "You look just like a kid I tutor, who also happens to be named Pit. And considering that kid," he shifted his gaze from Dark Pit to Toon Link. "Also has Link in his name... well, Douglas is right. This is one very weird coincidence."

"That's because it's not a coincidence." Dark Pit muttered, leaning back in his chair the best he could with his wings blocking the way.

"Excuse me?" Roy blurted, leaning across the table to make eye contact with Dark Pit. The winged boy, however, remained silent as the waitress came back to deliver the last of the drinks and finally take orders for food.

As she left again, Lucina picked the conversation back up. "Well, he's right, but it has to do with a very long and very unbelievable story."

"You can tell us." Roy pressed. "We've seen and done some pretty weird things lately, too. I'm sure we can handle whatever it is!"

Lucina widened her eyes. "Really?" She seemed a bit surprised by the redhead's comment. "Like what?"

Marth had remained quiet for quite sometime, still marveling in the fact that Douglas had been right about the strange appearances of the people they were meeting. At that moment, he finally chose to speak up. "Wait." He said. "You tell us your story, first. Then we'll tell you ours."

His look-alike pursed her lips, taking a drink from the water she ordered. "I suppose that's fair." She paused, taking a deep breath. "Just don't completely write us off with what I'm about to say."

Lucina put her glass back down onto the table, folding her arms in front of her and resting them on the aforementioned piece of furniture. "The three of us," she said, pointing to Dark Pit, Toon Link, and herself. "are clones. From the future."

Douglas choked on his coffee as Roy's eyes widened to comical proportions. Link's face scrunched in confusion, while Marth furrowed his eyebrows. Zelda and Ike looked at Lucina as if she'd just spouted one of the most ridiculous things they'd ever heard; in a way, she had. Even Peach and Olimar, whom the rest had assumed already knew this information, seemed a little shocked at their friend's comment.

"Ok, geez," Lucina cringed at the mixed responses, uncomfortable under the gazes of so many people. She looked to her drink, absentmindedly stirring it to give herself a reason to shy away from their stares. "Let me elaborate. I think I should start with the beginning."

"You see, we come from a timeline in which the world was falling apart at the hands of an organization called SSB. The three of us weren't around when it first got started, so we don't know everything about what it was originally like, but we would sometimes hear about how the whole thing wasn't nearly as awful as it was when we were around." Lucina stopped stirring her drink, leaning forward and letting her arms rest on the table. Her eyes softened slightly as she described the last part, as if she still held the small hope that the stories she once heard could still be considered true.

However, her expression quickly hardened. "Anyways," she continued. "What matters is that by the time we were created, the leaders had become power-hungry monsters. They'd gone around, capturing anyone who held supernatural abilities in order to force them into becoming living weapons."

"But why?" Roy interrupted, stressfully chewing at the bottom of his lip. The story Lucina was telling them lined up quite well with the information Marth had gotten from the invisible man Halloween night, and the revelation left an unsettled feeling in the redhead's gut. "What reason could they possibly have for wanting people like us, to, y'know..." Unable to find the exact words he needed, the redhead waved his hands around to get the point across instead.

Dark Pit scoffed. "Isn't it obvious? World domination."

Marth frowned, shaking his head in denial. "But that's ridiculous. Surely no one would be reckless enough to attempt such a thing."

"Then you've got more faith in civilization than you should." Dark Pit shot back. "Think about it. If you had some questionable morals and thought you had enough firepower to get away with whatever the hell you wanted, wouldn't you try to give it a shot, too?"

Marth fell silent, thinking of no adequate response. Zelda set her own cup of tea down, looking to Dark Pit. "Is that how you three were created, then? Did they want more people to serve as weapons, or something along that line?" She asked.

Lucina was the one to answer her, as the winged boy had decided he no longer wanted to bother with the explanation. "Well, in a sense, you're right, but there's more to it." The blue-haired girl responded, finally looking up from the table to get a better look at everyone's faces.

She took a deep breath, unsure of the reactions she might receive for what she had to tell them. "Obviously, trying to take over the world is not easy, and powers or not, no one is invincible. Marth, Link, and Pit were all killed in our timeline." Lucina stopped herself, knowing that what she'd just said would be quite the shock. As she expected, everyone's faces paled; Marth, Link, and Ike more-so than anyone else.

After a moment, she continued. "The SSB tried to use the DNA left by the three to create replacement clones, and they succeeded. We aren't exact copies, but we are alive and well and have powers of our own."

There was a heavy silence. "Oh my god." Roy finally breathed, his fingers gripping the table and his eyes wide as he looked at Lucina. "This is insane. You were right, this is really something that's hard to believe."

Douglas set his coffee mug back down on the table, the cup now empty of its contents. "But we can't deny any of this. I mean, the proof is right here." He said, gesturing once more to Lucina and Toon Link, as if to emphasize the surreal similarity they had to Marth and Link.

Marth shuddered. "So, does this mean we're going to die?" He whispered.

Lucina's gut wrenched at his horrified tone. She knew it probably wasn't very pleasant to have someone tell you that you were going to die; but it was a necessary evil. Still, she was quick to shake her head. "It's not a guarantee anymore. When Dark Pit, Toon Link, and I traveled here, the timeline changed. We don't know what's going to happen anymore, but needless to say, I would be careful the next time you think about trying something reckless."

The blue-haired boy remained silent, giving a small nod.

"What I don't understand," Ike frowned, "is why they would try cloning to replace anyone they lost. I didn't think our powers were genetic."

"That's right," Peach said, placing a hand on her chin as she contemplated Ike's words. "I mean, there are theories out there that try to prove our powers are genetic, but those have like, no definitive results whatsoever. I wonder why they'd invest so much into cloning if they didn't know for sure if they'd get the outcome they wanted?"

Dark Pit huffed and shrugged. "Well, don't ask us, because we don't know those details."

A lull in the conversation had been reached as the waitress made her way back to the table, arms full with the many orders of food the large group had requested. Once she was gone, they were focused more on eating the meals presented to them than discussing the heavy topic of the time travelers' past. Instead, Lucina took the conversation in a different direction.

She looked to Roy. "You said earlier you'd done some weird things lately, and now that we're done with our explanation, I think it's time for yours."

The redhead looked up from his sandwich. "Oh! Right, I almost forgot about that." He gave a soft chuckle. "Now that we know your story and everything, I guess our adventures seem a little average. We'd already been thinking that something weird was going on when people started going missing, so we'd just started trying investigations of our own. We've... gotten mixed results." The teen shrugged, taking another bite of his meal.

Lucina nodded, furrowing her eyebrows as she took in this new information. The blue-haired girl understood the 'mixed results' to be little progress on their part, and didn't question the others further.

After the plates had been cleared and the bills split accordingly, Falcon spoke up. "I guess now we've gotta figure out what our next move will be."

Peach hummed in thought, resting her chin in the open palm of her hand. "Well, we already tried to break into their hideout to see if we could rescue anyone, but it didn't exactly end well."

"What do you mean?" Zelda politely inquired.

"We managed to rescue a lucario, but at the same time, someone else in our group ended up captured." Dark Pit frowned.

The teenagers shared a look. "A Lucario? It must've been the one you said went missing a while ago, Marth." Roy inferred.

"Yes, I'm glad to hear it's out of that situation now." The blue-haired boy nodded. "But it's still unfortunate that someone else had to take it's place. I suppose since your first rescue mission didn't end very favorably, you're not exactly inclined to launch another one." He said, looking towards his clone and her friends.

Lucina shook her head. "No. While it's true that we should have strength in our numbers at this point, the people we're facing should not be taken lightly. I think the most important thing to do at this point in time is to keep on the look-out for anyone who possesses powers. As long as we can warn them, and help them avoid imprisonment, then we can at least make sure that the SSB doesn't grow in power."

Zelda pressed her lips together, her gaze fixated on the table as she thought. The hylian was tempted to say something about Lucina's plan; that if all they did was help people avoid capture, then Zelda predicted that nothing more than a stalemate would occur. Still, the blue-haired girl had a point. They'd outnumbered the fire-breathing koopa and the invisible man during the confrontation on Halloween night, but the two had still managed to get away. At the same time, Lucina was from the future; it was possible she knew important information that would influence her to make such a decision. Though it made her wonder why the blue-haired girl would withhold something like that from them, she held her tongue.

Douglas leaned back in his chair. "Well, then I suppose that's that." The officer shrugged. "I'll keep you all updated if any reports come in about missing people, and if there's anything else I can do, you've got my number."

"Right, then." Marth said. "I guess this meeting's adjourned."


Sorry for the delayed update- maybe I should stop saying that I plan for them to come weekly, but at the same time, setting deadlines for myself helps give me that extra push of motivation, regardless of whether or not I meet them. Also, finals and holidays are a thing. Either way, just know that they'll come... eventually, lol. As always, thank you very much for reading!