I lied again. You get it the day BEFORE New Year's Eve! I did start work on this chapter back on the 21st, right after 7 was completed, so the quality doesn't lack, don't worry. See, I was planning a huge Christmas update with Chapters 7 through 9 being uploaded. Stupid Computer problems. Oh well. You'll see 9 eventually.
So…….Answering Reviews time!
Colton: Thanks for the tip buddy! Works like a charm!
Smn08: Thanks for the compliment!
Ninja Sheik: See smn08's reply.
Ripper22: DeDeDe and Crazy Hand are by far my favorite chars in this story with Olimar and Yoshi taking a close 3rd and 4th Place. Thanks for the compliments. Details are luscious, and there will probably be a lot more details in the new chapters than 1-6. Thanks for the luck, I hope 8 gets as good, or, if possible, better reception than 7.
Thanks for all the support guys! 7 Chapters, 20 reviews. Nice.
I'll let the chars alone for this disclaimer. Here's Yours Truly doing the disclaimer.
Your S. Truly: SmashEd44 does not own Nintendo, Sega, Konami, any of the chars, any of the series or anything else in this story unless otherwise noted.
Alright, enough with the bad puns, and onward to the show!
Saturday, March 8th, 2008- 5:36 PM- Mansion Grounds
"Don't-a worry princess. I'm-a sure that we can-a escape eventually." Luigi consoled Princess Peach, who had her head buried in Luigi's chest; crying silently, fearing her lover's demise. "Mario made it-a out alright. I-a saw him earlier. Him, Yoshi and-a some others retreated back to the-a mansion."
Peach then raised her head and wiped off her tears. "Really?" Luigi nodded.
"I'm-a sure he's heading here right-a now-a, to help us all get-a outta this-a mess." Luigi told her. They were huddled behind a steep hill, about 800 feet away from the entrance. If one were fast and daring enough, they might make it back to the mansion. One also had to be Crazy as well, but then again, we all know who would fit that bill. And neither Luigi nor Peach was him.
"Woo Hoo Hoo Hoo!" A loud cry rang out as a figure clad and red landed right beside Luigi. "I-a believe someone needs an escort." Mario slightly grinned as he helped Peach up.
"Good to see you having-a some fun during this-a mess." Luigi slightly grinned as well.
"Crazy will-a shield you. Run back to the mansion as-a fast as you can." Mario informed the 2 as Crazy, still clad in Underwear zoomed in, and formed a purple shield to block the incoming bullets. Luigi stared quizzically at Crazy's choice of clothing. Mario quickly responded, "It's-a Crazy. What do you expect?" Luigi nodded as he grabbed Peach's hand. The duo sprinted towards the castle.
This was the first of many rescues, Smashers saving each other, bringing them back to safety. However, as Smashers were rescued they shared their grim experiences. Jigglypuff, as many had feared, perished, but surprisingly that was it. Due to many quick reactions, everyone else was saved. Pikachu and Pichu were highly praised for their actions, and were claimed heroes when they all returned home, the turrets broken from their use.
….If you actually thought that was the true ending, you are out of your mind. Seriously. That would've been the WORST ENDING EVER. So ignore the last long sentence, and let's get back to the grief and the actual story line shall we?
7:00 PM-Dinner Hall
The dinner hall was HUGE. Yes, they have 2 rooms to eat in, the Cafeteria for Breakfast and Lunch, and the Dinner Hall for, well, Dinner of course. It was comprised of a VERY long wooden table, with the smash insignia imprinted in the middle. The soft carpet was a crimson color, the walls a darker shade of red. A glowing chandelier hung above the smash insignia, lighting up the whole room; glass shards dangling precariously from the lights. This time in the dinner hall, there were only about 30 polished wooden seats filled out of the near 40, with Sonic, Lucas, and Wolf in with Doctor Mario at the infirmary. Suddenly, Master Hand floated in and the murmurs of the crowd quieted almost instantaneously.
"This murderer is really getting on my last nerve." Master Hand irritably began his no doubt solemn speech. "Turrets firing off bullets in milliseconds. Very high-tech." The last quiet murmurs finally stopped, as all attentively stared at Master Hand, including Crazy, who was hanging from the glowing chandelier. "Another Smasher has fallen today. Jigglypuff, who I heard took bullets for at least 5 other smashers. The casualties are light, thank goodness."
Still, all the smashers stood at full attention, including Olimar's entire pikmin army.
"The murderer will be caught. I feel that the key is Snake and Young Link. Those 2 have been missing for well over 40 hours now. It is possible that they know who the murderer is. So, I will send a very small group of smashers I trust to search for any clues leading to their rescue." Meta Knight nodded so slightly that only Master Hand seemingly noticed. "The turrets are still operational. There's no way to escape unfortunately. This means the fiend's plan worked. We're all trapped. Only way to make it out alive is to capture the murderer. Finally, continue to take the necessary precautions. Everyone's staying in the Lounge tonight. Safety precaution. You will all unpack in the morning, when it's light out. Good night everybody." Master Hand floated out of the dinner hall as all the smashers broke out into quiet murmurs, discussing the situation at hand.
7:21 PM- Lounge
Falco, Fox, and Olimar were sitting on one of the couches, channel flipping. The trio was hoping to find something decent on TV, to divert their minds from the whole murderous situation. Nearby Yoshi, DeDeDe, Diddy and some Pikmin were playing cards, while the rest of the Pikmin army had a whole couch to their selves, which they used as a fort; playing a strange little pikmin game. Everyone else was in either the lobby or the dining hall which they were permitted to roam through until 8:21 PM. Anyone who has kept track of the story so far should know why.
"Nope. No way. Na-ah." Falco stated bored as he flipped through the channels on the TV. "Sweet!" Falco exclaimed as he stumbled upon a space battle movie that was just beginning. The trio of space goers was glued to the television as they watched the drama unfold.
"Go fish." Diddy stated, also bored, to a Yellow Pikmin as the 'ravenous' game of Go Fish unfolded. Yoshi looked excited as he scanned his hand.
"Aces." Yoshi grinned. The Yellow Pikmin groaned as it tossed all of its 3 cards at the Yoshi Island inhabitant. Diddy also threw his last card like a shuriken at Yoshi as the 2 dropped out.
DeDeDe stared long and hard at his last card before mumbling: "Lousy green pie eating dinosaur lizard thing-a-ma-bobber." DeDeDe dropped his final card down, which was an ace. Yoshi has won….for the 8th time in a row. "Woo Hoo!" Yoshi cheered, grinning ear to ear.
"Anybody else bored?" Diddy asked, not really interested in the answer. The pikmin shook their heads, while the other 3 were glued to the TV, apparently shutting out the rest of the world. The familiar sound of clanking armor entered the room, as Meta Knight calmly walked into the Lounge, his yellow eyes fierce and glaring.
The pikmin who were previously playing cards quickly maneuvered to the other pikmin's couch fort, as they joined in on the fun, hoping to avoid the masked knight that they were terrified of.
DeDeDe just stared at the knight, his mind phasing out into his own little fantasy world.
"Yoshi! Why is everybody yosh the kitchen?" Yoshi asked, quizzical at why they were the only ones in here.
"Discussing the matters at hand, which, in this climate, is a very idiotic thing to do. Anyone could be the murderer, so why talk to those that you don't trust with your life? Within 5 minutes, somebody's going to accuse somebody else, and a brawl will start. It's pointless staying in there."
"Go fish?" Yoshi asked grinning, while holding up some old, worn down cards. The first card in the pile, a King, had a large coffee stain on it.
"Chess is more of my game." Meta Knight stated, nonchalantly.
"…" Yoshi paused for a second, before yanking out a box under a nearby couch. It was covered in dust; nobody had played it since the beginning of Melee probably. "Chess?" Meta Knight paused, thinking.
"I have nothing better to do." Meta Knight replied, and sat down across from Yoshi.
"So, since there's we're stuck in here, I was thinking of scanning the 5th floor hallway tomorrow. Try to find evidence for Snake's kidnapping and all. I suppose you'll come with us Meta Knight." Diddy Kong proposed.
Meta Knight and Yoshi, however, were already focused in their chess game. Bothe stiffly nodded, acknowledging Diddy's proposal. Diddy, without anything to do, left the room in a huff. He walked into the Dining Hall, to find that an argument had begun, just as Meta Knight predicted. Smashers then began accusing each other, with only a few smashers just sitting in silence, just watching the meaningless arguing. Diddy, seeing that nothing constructive was occurring, then re-entered the Lounge, and just plopped himself down on a chair and quickly fell asleep from boredom. Next to him, DeDeDe was dreamily mumbling about pie, slumped over, and then fell onto the stack of old go fish cards, out cold.
11:12 PM- Lounge
As Master Hand ordered, for safety reasons, everyone was in the Lounge, some sleeping, and some staring at the ceiling, trying to catch some Zs. Earlier in the evening, Wolf, Sonic, and Lucas all returned to the Lounge, Doctor Mario clearing them. All 3 made quick recoveries, due to the fact that all 3 were minor bullet wounds. Doctor Mario was astounded with Wolf's recovery. Apparently the 3 bullets that wounded him didn't go all that deep. Just about all of the smashers were out cold, except for Olimar and Yoshi, as both were paranoid, both anxious about sleeping in the wide open. Both were slumped behind a couch facing a wall. They were whispering to each other.
"I just can't sleep when we're in the open! The murderer could be sleeping next to you and the quickly and quietly slit your throat!" Olimar whispered, scared to death as he usually was.
"Yoshi have nightmares. Yoshi feel sorry for Link, DK, and Ness." Yoshi yawned silently. "Yoshi wonders where Link and Snake are." Yoshi continues. Yoshi always called Toon Link and Young Link just plain Link, so when the 3 were together, confusion quickly followed.
"What do you suppose happened to them?" Olimar wondered aloud.
"Snake got abducted in a struggle. Yoshi not know what happen to Link…." Olimar jumped a bit, as an audible thump was heard, far away in the distance. It seemed like it was about 2 floors above them.
"What was that?" Olimar whispered. He glanced under the couch, where all his pikmin were sleeping.
"Shh…." Yoshi whispered. "Voices." Indeed, an audible voice was heard, again, about 2 floors above them. It sounded eerie and dark. Another loud thump was heard, like someone was slammed into the floor or the wall.
Another voice was heard, this one deep and gruff. The other dark menacing voice whispered as another thump was heard.
"What the heck is that?" Olimar whispered; his voice barely audible.
"I wish we could hear what was being spoken." Yoshi responded, again in a whisper. Olimar then recoiled slightly. Yoshi just spoke a full sentence in fluent English.
"Your English is getting better." Olimar observed, but before Yoshi could respond, the low gruff voice and the lower menacing voice exchanged some words. Another thump was heard, along with a slight cracking noise. After a second cracking noise all became silent.
"What was Yoshi?" Yoshi asked Olimar.
"An argument? It definitely sounded like an argument. I think it started to get violent…."
"Murderer?" Yoshi suggested.
"M-maybe." Olimar stammered. "He might come back down here to blend in. We should stay silent; maybe fall asleep if we can."
"Right." Yoshi nodded. The two friends then laid down, trying to catch some sleep. Just as the 2 started to doze, they heard quiet footsteps, barely audible on the soft carpet. The footsteps got louder and louder until they stopped. One of the 2 arguers must have returned. Olimar and Yoshi then nodded to each other, silently agreeing to head to the 3rd floor the next morning. They both hoped that they wouldn't find a body there, but the duo knew that it was highly likely.
Suddenly Olimar remembered his promise as he fell asleep. Tears slid his face, as he knew he would not see his children's grinning faces the next morning.
I tried to put a bit of emotion in at the end. Poor Olimar, being separated from his family once more.
So, how do you like it? The tension builds and the plot thickens as we finally move to March 9th. Yes, March 9th, the day the tournament was supposed to begin. Sorry if you were expecting an action filled follow up to Chapter 7, but I would've run outta ideas. I try to save those ideas for the rest of the story, you know? I have a lot yet to write.
Who argued on the 3rd floor? Why did the argument take place? What will Olimar and Yoshi find there?
Do any of these questions really get answered?
…Just stay tuned for Chapter 9 people.