SUPER SMASH BROS.: DARK MATTER
Story by: JSandders
A Multi-genre, Cross-over, Super Smash Bros. Story
Chapter 4 is here and there's going to be entertainment in the most uncomfortable way for Sora! I thank the World Wide Web for this chapter for without it, I wouldn't have been able to get the references for the plot of this chapter.
I think in the last chapter I made Guybrush TOO out of character. For that I apologize to any person reading this who knows more about the Monkey Island series than I do. So, because of that, I'm adding a treat for all you people who know the games by heart! (Besides, you can't have a Monkey Island reference without this!) You'll know what it is when you reach it. X)
For those of you who waited patiently, someone whom Sora has encountered before will reappear and battle him (but in the most unusual ways you could think!). This character will mention how there came to be a second (or should it be third?) Grim Reaper and how it got the chest after it was dumped into the ocean (though only for a short while).
This chapter also explains why Diddy is the busy guy under Master Hand (YES!!! I thought of an excuse for why!) and this story also has an emotional time for Kirby in the middle. One little mistake I found in the last chapter was that I made Olimar eat (He has his HELMET on)!!! Oh well! No one probably noticed it! XD
Oh yeah, about other main MI characters? Don't worry, maggots, they'll be in this story soon! (And Stan? That was NOT the last time you'll see that sleazy salesman!)
Well, here's Chapter 4. Hope it keeps you curious.
So here it is. LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION!
Sora frowned. He leaned on the railing of the ship's bow and stared off into the distance of the ocean. He felt relaxed because of this but at the same time he felt tense because of the Heartless that were amok in this world. He sighed and turned around to see Guybrush on the wheel on the other side of the ship, talking to Mario about what they would do once they catch up with the Battleship Heartless. Sora crossed the ship to the two of them as they greeted Sora.
"So do you guys know what to do?" asked Sora in a half-sleepy voice.
"We don't know yet because we don't know where they're going; it depends on which Island they are. What I'm doing is finding any ship that could point us to where they could be going." replied Guybrush who looked back at the direction to where they were unknowingly going.
"So, you're telling me we're lost!" said Sora wanting to argue but was too tired to do so.
"Sora, you-a look tired. Why don't you get some-a sleep?" asked Mario as he didn't seem to be fazed by the idea that they were traveling blind.
"I'm not tired Mario. I'm just stressed, that's all. It's just because of the (yawn) Heartless..."
"Sora, Mario's right. You need to rest (not as if I already had enough of that from my previous crews! But Sora's an exception...)." said Guybrush who kept the last part to his own playful mind.
After a while, the Ice Climbers came up to where they were. Popo was the first to speak between the two of them, "Hey peoples! We're just curious on where we're going next."
"Guybrush says we're lost." replied Sora who was too tired to notice what he had just said.
"LOST!!!" shouted Nana as she was about to perform mutiny on the captain by blasting him away with her trusty hammer. Popo stopped her by grabbing her arms and holding them behind her back. To Guybrush's horror, when her mallet fell down, it cracked the deck and fell down to the room below.
"OWW!!! Who's hammer was that!" shouted an angry Capt. Falcon after being hit on the head.
"OWW!!! Who's hammer was that!" shouted the angry Dainty Lady after being hit on the deck.
Popo sweat-dropped before shaking his head and looking back at the three people whom he asked the question to, "We're lost?"
"We're not lost! We're just looking for another ship that could point us to the right direction."
"Basically we ARE lost..." said Popo rolling his eyes, releasing his sister who calmed down a bit.
"No we're not! We just really don't know where these monsters went because they had a nine hour head start."
"Oh..." said Popo before noticing Sora asleep yet still standing, "Sora?"
Mario looked at Sora and chuckled a little. He motioned for Popo and Nana to help him carry Sora to one of the living quarters below deck and did so. Guybrush was left alone and felt edgy, "Holy monkey gods! We ARE lost! I don't think we'll ever find another ship! I should have brought Ignatius along; he'd know where to go!"
"Don't worry Guybrush! Just show me a map of this Tri-Island Area that we're going about and I think I could help you; I do help show the Smashers around the mansion when they get lost!" said someone somewhere.
"Monkey?"
"Stop calling me that! My name's Diddy, Diddy Kong!" said the brown chimp as he got up the flight of stairs.
"Sorry Diddy. So you're a monkey who can talk and is an expert navigator, huh?"
"Not only that! I can do a lot of managerial stuff and am good at taking care of places while my boss takes care of the impossible things. I'm also a musician, sports buff, and whatever whatnot!" proclaimed Diddy happily.
"You seem pretty important for a monkey!"
"Is that some kind of a racial comment!!"
"N-n-no!! It's just that the monkeys here don't usually do much, let alone TALK, (except for Jojo Jr. of course!) they just act like monkeys and do monkey things! But guessing where you're from, you're considered more than a monkey, probably something very important."
"Damn straight I am, you douche!"
"DIDDY!!! Don't ever say that again!"
"(whimper) D-d-donkey! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to badmouth Pansy Guybrush!"
"HEY!!!" said Guybrush after hearing the insult, "Ignoring that last statement, why is that gorilla like that? All he does is eat and guard our banana stash and beat up anyone who comes close."
"DK loves his bananas! He may be a scary dude but he's alright once you get to know him. I'm not saying that because he's my uncle, but because my great-grandfather and Mario were in the heat a lot of times! Cranky used to kidnap Mario`s old girlfriend and this angered Mario a lot. In fact, he made Mario (or as Cranky used to call him, Jumpman) so angry that Mario once locked him up in a CAGE! It was a good thing gramps saved Cranky! Then there came the day that DK here was born and became one of the Kongs... he was expected to duke it out with Mario like they did but DK's DK, you know? It`s a good thing that DK respects Mario and they're both friends... well... in a love-hate kind of way anyway." said Diddy, answering Guybrush.
"Looks like you and that gorilla... who I still can't believe is a GORILLA! I mean, the last gorilla I saw was acting as the captain of a lunatic (so I stole their ship)! Anyways, you and your friend..."
"Didn't you listen?! He's my uncle!"
"Oh gee, my bad... you and your uncle are pretty smart and disciplined. I guess we can be a great crew after all!"
"(Gee???? ... ... ...) You had doubts?"
"That's right! But you can't blame me! You guys are monkeys!"
"...animal activist!..." said an angered Diddy under his breath. Diddy then slapped himself for being that way (which Guybrush thought to himself was a monkey thing) and said in a friendly manner, "Okay then, enough of me! Let's see that map!"
"Oh right! Here's Meathook's map that Ignatius keeps. It used to have a wax painting over it but I melted it just because I wanted to! Careful though, this was one of Elaine's wedding gifts!"
"I'll be as gentle as a lion on an antelope! Wait... that's not gentle..." said Diddy who wasn't thinking much as he inspected the map.
"You don't seem to be thinking much like the narrator said... Though even if we didn't have one, I can tell you are anyways because you're reading that map as if it were a symbolic depiction highlighting relationships between elements of that space such as objects, regions, and themes..."
"That's what a map is you idiot!"
"Not only that, you're reading it upside-down..."
"N-no I'm not!! I blame you for being all technical in front of me!!" said Diddy quickly turning the canvas around.
"Blame JSandders! He was the one who looked up Wikipedia for it!"
"SHUT UP ABOUT JSANDDERS!!! He doesn't make sense! I'm... I'm just thinking about my girlfriend, Dixie. I... I've been missing her after I joined these people. That's why I keep myself busy, to keep my mind off her!"
"Wow... it's usually the other way around! Some people in soap operas and telenovelas usually hang out with their partners to get their mind off work, especially in those old black and white shows!"
"How do you KNOW all of this?! Those things haven't even come out in your time yet!"
"Blame media..."
"You have a point, but there's no public media here! We're in the late 16th Century!!"
"Blame LucasArts then! They made me! Besides, didn't there used to be town criers, or whatever you call them, who used to shout out random news reports in public?"
"... ... ... yes to your question but... ... just... just let me look at this map, please..."
"... ... don't you find it scary that JSandders isn't typing anything after our quotes anymore, let alone narrate what we're doing?"
"I don't want to talk now because of you... judging by this weird red line that traces where the ship is going on this map, just sail eastward until we reach an island where we can ask for directions. It's called Booty Island..."
"Booty Island? The festive, French, Mardi Gras, party-all-the-time island? That's one of the main and BEST islands of the Tri-Island Area! Elaine's got a mansion there so we can rest there by the time the sun sets. I could make arrangements."
"Thanks Guybrush."
"Oh gee, you don't have to thank me! The government may be corrupt, as I learned from Grandpa Marley, but they can still do you a lot of good as you hunt down evil black thingamabobs with yellow eyes around the Tri-Island Area!"
Guybrush and Diddy... "Finally! You talked! It was getting hysterical with the silence!"
... ... Guybrush, shut up! As I was saying, Guybrush and Diddy turned starboard towards the island of thriving businesses when they noticed Kirby and Olimar got up to where Guybrush and Diddy were.
"... And that's why the chicken crossed the road... oh, hey guys! I was just telling Olimar here about what he missed when we were listening to Stan's interesting story!"
"You memorized it!!!" shouted almost everybody on the ship (including Sora who went back to sleep afterward).
"WHAT?!?! I actually thought it was a GOOD pitch! His life is actually FASCINATING and the way that he rhymed all those phrases was GREAT! I've never heard such a STUPENDOUS pitch!!" retorted Kirby with a smirk about how he used smart words for his age.
Olimar spoke up, "If Pikachu were here right now, Kirby, he would taunt you in a manner like, 'Hey Kirby, if you talked to Jigglypuff like that more often about how she is, maybe she'd go out on a date with you!' or something like that."
"Why don't you SHUT UP, fish bowl! Unless of course you want to fight me right here, right now and see if oxygen will do you any good?!" shouted Kirby
"Lunging leaflets, no! Everyone knows that oxygen is poisonous to my race! Also, I don't want to commence in battle now! I was only assuming what the yellow rat would say..."
Kirby who had his cutter out kept it in... ... wherever he keeps his things... ... and puffed out the stress from his body, "You're just lucky, Olimar, that you and Diddy here already know that I like Jiggly. You're lucky too, Guybrush, for the fact that you don't know Jiggly. But, if you were someone like Capt. Falcon, I'd beat you up right on the spot until you turn into a trophy. Then afterward, I would chop your trophy up until you were a pile of toothpicks and eat you!"
Capt. Falcon, who heard everything because of the hole that was still on the deck, cowered like he never did before. It was weird that he was afraid of Kirby when he was known in the Mansion as one of the bravest and fastest characters around. But, he just couldn't help it but to keep in mind, "Remember to tell Jigglypuff that Kirby is infatuated with her!"
Just then, Kirby fell in front of Capt. Falcon, on the desk, because the pink fluff-ball didn't see the hole on the deck. Kirby was unusually red and had a feral look while staring at F-Zero racer number 07. Kirby finally growled, "Did you just hear everything I said up there!!?!!"
Capt. Falcon just shivered in place before carrying a mallet and told Kirby, "W-w-when y-y-you find one of th-the Ice C-c-climbers... w-w-w-would you p-please g-g-g-give this to th-them..."
WHACK!!!
Kirby, once done, had left the room still angry. Behind him, Capt. Falcon had a mallet stuck on his face and was lying down on the ground, close to becoming a trophy.
Everyone who was on top was now very afraid of Kirby who disappeared on the other side of the ship's quarters.
"I didn't know Kirby was so emotional... I always thought he was all fun and games!" blurted out a shocked Olimar.
Diddy shook his head and curled his tail, "Don't worry man. He was like this too when Popo found out because he was listening in behind Kirby's door back in the Mansion. He just needs a lot of food to calm him down... wait... oh no! He's going off to Donkey Kong's stash of bananas!"
"Our stash of bananas, you mean..." corrected Guybrush.
"It doesn't matter! This won't end well..."
KABOOM!!!
Guybrush's face flushed, "Holy monkey gods! That was the third loudest explosion I've ever heard in my life! And that was where your uncle was, little simian! Let's go see what hap..."
Everyone looked at where Guybrush was looking to see what postponed him from talking and saw that Kirby came out from the hull of the ship with a humongous sack and laid it down in the middle of the ship. He opened his mouth and with his vacuum ability ate all the bananas that were clearly in it (sack included) in one gulp. Then he sat down on the spot and cried.
Mario came out, after returning from Sora's room, and noticed the crying Star Warrior and went over to comfort him. Diddy, Olimar, and the Ice Climbers also came over to try to see if they could soothe their comrade's pain.
Guybrush just sighed at what was transpiring before him and looked out into sea. Out in the distance, there was a mysterious cloaked man in the way, standing above the sea as if it were solid. Guybrush looked closer and saw that he was actually standing on a large card and continued to stare confused, "Guys... ... do you know who that unidentified floating person is, off the port bow?"
Mario, who was able to calm down Kirby for a bit, went to the bow to see what Guybrush was talking about and gasped in shock, "Mama mia!"
Diddy, Olimar, and the Ice Climbers let Kirby go down to his sleeping quarters before running off to see what Mario was so stunned about. As they reached the area they too gasped as they saw silver, pointy creatures erupt from the water around the man and swoop towards them in an incredible speed.
Mario, out of instinct, jumped off the ship, surprising those watching, and stepped on one of the monsters heads making it fall back down into the water. He continued to do this and skipped towards the man as if the monsters were rocks on a river that he could use to cross said river. He approached the hooded man, ready to attack, but was suddenly attacked by another one of those silver beings and was tossed back onto the ship.
As Diddy and Olimar went to help Mario up, the Ice Climbers jumped off the ship as well and used their Blizzard ability to freeze the water they landed on and skated off to where the man was. The man smirked and jumped high above the Ice Climbers and as he came back down, he used the giant card that he was standing on to destroy the ice that the Climbers were standing on and both siblings fell underwater.
"Holy Hocotate! Blue Pikmin, save them!" shouted Olimar as he threw a barrage of Blue Pikmin towards where the Climbers had fallen. After seeing the Blue Pikmin lift the two unconscious fighters from the water, he grabbed a Purple Pikmin and tossed it as hard as he could towards the cloaked figure who was floating high above the air, standing on another card. To Olimar's surprise, the man grabbed the Pikmin and threw it towards a fireball that Mario threw at him, dissipating the ball of fire and killing the Pikmin.
Diddy then put on his Rocketbarrel Boost and launched himself towards the man, getting out both Peanut Popguns. He started shooting at the man with his edible ammunition and sneered. The shots were stopped by more of those silver beings which shocked Diddy, making him stop in mid-air. The silver beings launched a barrage of dice towards the monkey which made Diddy fall back down to the ship.
The man just stood up there, floating on his card with crossed arms and finally said, "I applaud you but my match is not with you. The bet was on Sora... where is he?"
"What do you mean, where's-a Sora?" asked a dazed and confused Mario.
"Yeah, man! What are you going to do with Sora?" continued an angry Diddy who was in pain.
"This is no one's business but his and his alone. I cannot gamble my luck around those of you who are still awake. The person I came to confront is Roxas."
"I'm sorry, sir. But there's no one on this ship named Roxas..." said Olimar.
"Roxas is a traitor. If I must play this game with you cards, then I must deal with you like how I deal my cards, by asking my friends to cut the deck equally amongst the players..." said the cloaked figure as he ordered the silver beings to attack the ship.
The three conscious Smashers stood where they were, preparing for the attack. Suddenly, a series of powerful lightning bolts struck down every single one of the pointy creatures, shocking the Smashers (though not literally), "Hey you, guy from Organization XIII, you're too noisy! Shut up would you..."
"Sora, how kind of you to participate in this little game of mine once again!" said the cloaked figure as he descended a bit towards the ship.
"I'm happy to see you once again, Mr. Gambler." simpered Sora as he stood there, Keyblade in hand.
"I'd rather we skip the formalities again, kid. There's no need to skirmish with me now. Would you rather take your chance with my little game, boy?"
Sora grinned and put away his Keyblade, making everyone gasp, "You know I'm always up for your challenges, ignoramus! What's first?"
"We'll be attending a trio of games. The first is simple, really. I've studied the pirates here and found one certain one who uses this trick that seems to be ideal to use when playing my new little game: The Roulette of Death... it's very simple but quite the risk. Are you up for it, little Roxas?"
"I don't know why you guys keep calling me that but my name is not Roxas! I'll play your game though, old man... what's the catch if I win or lose?"
"Sora, always getting down to business, hmm? Well, here's how the mechanics go..."
After saying that, he landed on the ship without the other Smashers and Guybrush complaining and summoned a few of those silver creatures. He made a little motion with his hand and they reached into their strange dimension and summoned a Wheel of Fortune reminiscent wheel that was rather different. Instead of numbers, there were X's and O's going around alternately. The creatures made it stand up and lean on the door that led to the ship's hull. The Gambler walked to Sora, who didn't seem to mind, and held out a small white ball in his hand.
"Beforehand, you will guess where the ball will land. We spin the roulette wheel clockwise and toss the ball counter-clockwise. The ball will land on either an X or an O. If you guess right, you win and we go to the next game without any quandaries. But if you guess wrong, you will have to deal with my high card, the Grim Reaper that I can freely summon anytime I want to!"
Sora snarled at what the man had just said and said, "You're the one who brought him back! Did you also retrieve the chest from the bottom of the ocean?!"
"Not actually. Demyx was kind enough to retrieve it for me. I've also come to understand that you have it in your possession..."
Sora just scowled for it was true. He had brought the chest along with them in order for it to be safe and out of reach from anyone who didn't know what the curse was.
"...But none of that matters. Like I said before to you, I surrender the chest. All I did was bring it back to you with my little welcoming committee."
"Tch! Hearty little welcoming committee!" scoffed Sora, "Did they have to get so physical with us for such a simple Lost & Found situation?"
"You've gotten more spiteful over the time that you were gone, Roxas. I remember the times that you used to be happy-go-lucky with your little party in the past. I always wished to be able to feel the way you did, Roxas. To not have a heart would make me livid and grief-stricken if I knew such feelings. But enough about the past, think of the present and your probable future; the game, Sora... it's just a 50-50 situation..." said the man as he taunted the Keyblade wielder by moving the ball back and forth across his eyes.
"Don't tease, geezer! Is there anything else I need to know?"
"Am I that obvious? Did I lose my poker face? Well yes, maybe I could help you cheat the croupier, that would be me by the way... Well here's your clue..." does a weird hand gesture, "... If this is two..." does another one, "... and if this is five..." he quickly spins the roulette wheel and says, "... then what is your choice, odd or even, tick-tock, tick-tock, Roxas?"
Sora was utterly confused and couldn't choose between the ring or the cross as the wheel slowed down. He panicked and knew that he would fight the Reaper again. Luckily...
"X!"
Sora turned around to see that it was Guybrush who shouted it out and turned to see the wheel slow down and land on X.
The cloaked man looked over to Guybrush and snickered, "Damn... a pirate who knows the secret code. I'd congratulate you, sir, but I'm not impressed."
"The code? This isn't the code!! This is a cheap knock-off of the real one but you exchanged odds and evens with rings and crosses! The only reason I shouted X was because that's what usually marks the spot when I'm looking for treasure or anything else good!"
The Smashers frowned, "You guessed?!"
The man smiled, "A pirate who can analyze the situation in conventional, simple ways and formulate a supposition when out of other options in a 50-50 chance... a true gambler. Now, I am impressed. I can't articulate the same for you though, Sora, if you can't play your cards right, there is no significance to these Thursday night reunions of ours. If you desire to go freely without any hindrance, you shall give us Roxas and fold your chances of stopping our plans."
"No! No one interfere! It's our contest..."
"A sportsman... hmm... Let us play the next game. The captain might recognize this exchange of tirade... but he can't help you even if he wanted to because of my little adjustments to the rules."
"Exchange of tirade? Guybrush, what is he talking about?" asked Sora who was now unsure whether or not he should continue on these challenges.
"I don't even understand half the words he's talking about! I'm just from the late 16th Century!!" proclaimed Guybrush who was just as clueless.
The cloaked man put down his hood, revealing an old man with white hair and a goatee, "You know it, sir. It is what you and every other brigand here call Insult Swordfighting..."
"Haha!!" shouted Guybrush, making Sora jump up in surprise, "Sora, there's nothing to be confused about! The rules of this activity are simple! Insult Swordfighting is basically sword fighting in the respect that the participants are required to fling insults and counter-insults to one another at the same time that they are slashing away at each other. In a regular fight one person presents an insult to which the opponent must present the appropriate counter-insult. If the opponent can't produce the proper counter-insult, he loses a round. After losing a few rounds, he will lose the match. If the opponent responds with the correct counter-insult, he wins the round and is allowed to present his own insult. (Source is Monkey Island wiki.)"
"In short, Sora..." said the old man which Sora faced back to, "... it's a gamble of witty comebacks. The only flip of the rules is that it is a life-death situation. By declaring the proper insult, your power over me shall be much more dominant. But, at the same time, I can flop it by declaring the counter and afterward, I can turn the tables on you by flinging an insult of my own. Upon winning five rounds against me we can proceed to the last game. If you lose, it's game over. Are you willing to affront me in this position that I am putting you in?"
Sora thought for a while, "This guy's NUTS!! He's making every consequence worse for me! If this is not yet last, and the consequence here is death, I don't even want to know what consequence he has for me on the final game! But I can't battle him now... something prevents me from doing that... I remember him in Jack's world... couldn't put a finger on him... something about time... I guess this is all I can do... I accept the challenge. Let's friendlily insult each other five times and see who gets to live at the end of this set of amusing games you made for me!"
The man grinned and stepped off of the huge card he had been standing on, it was the King of Spades. He opened his palm to the card and the king on it willingly gave the robed man one of his swords. Sora in reply summoned his Keyblade and gestured for his opponent to strike first.
"As you wish... But I must warn you, you're no match for my skills, kid!"
Guybrush, recognizing a familiar-ish insult, shouted the counter-insult, "He'd be in real trouble if you ACTUALLY used them!"
"Huh?" asked the confused Organization member who was a bit distracted, giving Sora an opportune moment to strike. The man was attacked and backed up a bit, "That was an exception! You cannot interfere, pirate!"
Guybrush laughed. The man growled under his breath. The rest could only snicker. The white-haired man, noticing that he was humiliated by a mortal man cussed a bit.
"That, Mr. Gambler, was an example of feeling humiliated!" taunted Sora. The man struck Sora unexpectedly making the Keyblade wielder back up a little. They continued blocking each sword fighter's attacks before the man shouted, "I hope you and your friends ready your ship for a quick escape after we're done!"
Guybrush, "Why?! Did you want to borrow it?!"
"I told you to be silent!! Argh..." shouted the man who was slashed by Sora's Keyblade. So as to stop Guybrush from further commenting against him, he commanded some of his creatures to gag and restrain Guybrush while he continued fighting Sora.
The man spoke again after slashing downward with his sword, "Give me three reasons to not just kill you right now, boy!"
Sora (who is not dumb and knows how to fight back) shouted, "Three?! I'm surprised you can even count that high!" and slashed upwards on the man's chin, making him tumble.
The man was impressed and said, "GOOD, Roxas! Your turn to silver-tongue me..." and stood up.
Sora's heart jumped, "Oh God! I don't know any insults! Umm... umm... what to say??? Aha! Only once have I met such a coward!" Guybrush snickered, knowing the insult.
"Really? He must have taught you everything you know!" replied the old man, "You're no better than fleas that I've met!"
"So that's why you're scratching! I'd go see a VET!!" replied Sora who was now hypnotized in the awesome power of stabbing someone in the face with cheap one-liners, "No one will ever CATCH me fighting as bad as you do!"
"You RUN that fast?!!" said the cloaked man in a teasing manner, also mesmerized, but not as much as Sora was, "Killing you must be justifiable homicide!!"
"I guess that means killing you would be justifiable fungicide!!" replied Sora, "Every enemy I've met, I've ANNIHILATED!!!"
"With your breath, I'm sure they all SUFFOCATED!!!" replied the Organization member, "I shall put your arm in a sling!!"
"WHY?! You studying to be a nurse?!!" taunted Sora, "EN GARDE!!! TOUCHÉ!!!"
"That's too cliché!!" taunted back the cloaked man, "You fight like a dairy farmer!!!"
"Hah!!! How appropriate!!! You FIGHT LIKE A COW!!!! On your knees!!!" shouted an overly-excited Sora who flicked the king's sword out of the man's hand and pointed the Keyblade at the cloaked man in such a way that the man had to kneel.
"Bravo, Sora. You have the trump card in your hand now. Onto the last game?"
Sora snapped back to reality and made his Keyblade disappear. He exhaled all the adrenaline out of his body before saying to the man, "Sorry about my over-reaction... let's just finish this."
"That was great, Sora!" shouted Guybrush who was released by the silver monsters, "You're great at abusing those who are clearly beneath you! Maybe later I can teach you how to Insult Arm-wrestle and maybe some tutoring on Monkey Kombat!"
Sora looked up to Guybrush and saw that all the other Smashers were up there with him, amused at the match, "L-later... Guybrush. What's the last game, Gambler?"
The man smirked and simply said, "Poker."
"I don't know how to play that game..."
"Is that so?" asked the man who took out a full deck of cards from under his sleeve (A/N: That's what you call Ultimate Cheating!), "That's fine, makes it easier for me."
"That's not fair!!!"
"Once you come and muck about with Organization XIII, you will learn, Roxas, that nothing is fair! Now, can you kindly ask your full house of friends to shuffle. They crowd me."
Sora could only stare at the man in disbelief before telling the others to back off a bit.
"Texas Hold 'Em..." the Organization XIII member said plainly as the silver beings brought a semi-circle table to the pair of players. The man in black gave the card deck to... no one... the card deck just floated on air as it went to the flat side of the table and started distributing the cards like an invisible dealer, two for each man. The white-haired man only lifted the top of his cards as he sat down on a seemingly invisible chair and smiled at Sora. Sora felt uneasy but took his cards in hand. Once he saw his cards, he felt like frowning but knew he had to keep a straight face so as not to be easily beaten by the expert gambler.
"One thing."
"What is it, Sora?"
"What happens if I lose?"
"Not only will you die, but your whole existence shall be erased from time itself."
Everyone gasped. Sora gasped the loudest. He felt his lips quivering and his gut feeling uneasy. He didn't know which feeling was striking him most. There was anger, annoyance, awe, curiosity, depression, despair, disgust, fear, frustration, grief, hatred, horror, hostility, hysteria, loathing, rage, regret, sadness, surprise, wonder, worry and a range of other complicated feelings that I haven't added in this alphabetized list. But all Sora could feel out of all that mix of emotions was surprise after the man slammed his hands on to the table between them, "STOP IT!!! I know I don't have a heart, but my mind recalls this as a time in which I must be irate and envious!! This mix of emotions you're experiencing is what my mind remembers as what I should desire! Give me your heart, Sora!!"
"I see impatience has rubbed on to you, Mr. Gambler." said Sora who was relieved that he would probably just fight the man than play a game he knew nothing of.
"No... ... ..." said the man who put his hood back on and just stared at the deck.
"Um, excuse me... are you still here? This is ground control to Major Tom! Do you copy?"
"The forces tell me now is not the time. A deus ex machina will occur here and work like snake-eyes against me if I were to confront you now, a deuce-to-seven low for me indeed. No. We shall finish our game soon, Sora. For now, I congratulate you for your efforts..." and with that, the man disappeared in a dark portal he had created, accompanied by his silver creatures.
Sora just stared off at where the man had stood, lost in his thoughts and utterly confused. Mario walked over to Sora and patted him on the back, making Sora look at the smaller man, "You're a good-a gambler Sora, but never do this again, not until you meet-a him another time some time in the future. Gambling is-a prohibited in the mansion!"
Sora just looked back where the man once was.
Diddy approached the table that was left behind and lifted Sora's cards, "What were your cards anyways? BLAZING BANANA SKINS!!!!!"
Capt. Falcon, face a little crooked, asked Diddy, "What's wrong?"
"HE'S GOT A PAIR OF ACES!!!!"
Everybody's heart jumped for a while, "W-W-WHAT?!?!"
Popo grinned and blurted out, "DAMN, Sora!! You're the luckiest bloke on this side of the street!!"
"But I thought that aces were low and only equal 1. Isn't that why it's the first card?"
"NOT IN TEXAS HOLD 'EM!!!" shouted all the Smashers including Guybrush, making Sora sweat-drop.
Nana approached the other side of the table and said, "What were his cards? HOLY SHRIMP!!!!"
"Is it better than Sora's hand?" asked DK from where Guybrush was.
"HE'S GOT A PAIR OF ACES, TOO!!!!"
Everybody's heart jumped once again, "W-W-WHAT?!?!"
"You know what this means, right?" said the racer who patted Sora's shoulder, "If you're luck is as good as that gambler's who cheated..."
"H-he cheated?" asked a confused Sora.
"Yes, actually. From the hull, I saw a strange silver creature turning a crank behind the roulette wheel from the door."
"Those creatures are the Nobodies... they're attacking me here now."
Everybody (except Guybrush), "So those were the Nobodies..."
"Told you they were a force to be reckoned with!" said Sora with a little chuckle.
"That was amusing while it lasted!" said Guybrush to himself as he continued steering the ship before noticing something in the distance, "Could that be... LAND HO!!!"
Everybody looked at the direction they were heading and indeed saw the island, "What else does this world hold for our search..." whispered Sora to himself as they approached the green patch of earth in the middle of the ocean. After all that frowning, Sora smiled, "Things seem to be looking up..."
End of Chapter 4 in Super Smash Bros: Dark Matter
This chapter was hard to keep up with! I may be raised in a family of people who enjoy poker, but I know little of the proper mechanics (That's why I ended the games like that! XP)
I love how the old man talks (So many gambling terms and phrases)! I'm going to give out a cookie to everyone who knows which Organization XIII member that was (Though the only reason why I'm giving away cookies is because all the other authors here on the Net do that! Just go with the flow, I always say to myself)! That was certainly not the last time we'll see him and I can't wait for that moment to come! I just love the way he talks: If I must play this game with you cards, then I must deal with you like how I deal MY cards, by asking my friends to cut the deck equally amongst the players... END OF BEST QUOTE BY HIM SO FAR!!! This was brilliant! I didn't notice the boat reference until I typed it down and said to myself, "Hey! Isn't a deck a part of a boat?! PERFECT!!!" And cards are jokers (another gambling reference! :D) as in people who joke around and act carefree.
Anyways, I'm sorry to all of you MI fans... not much Guybrush here. But the only reason I did that was to answer some questions from the last chapter and introduce Sora to the flow of how things roll in the Tri-Island Area, so don't kill me yet! I promise to all of you that Guybrush's persona will be delved into more in the next chapter on Booty Island. But to appeal those fans, anyways, I brought in Insult Swordfighting, like any self-respecting Monkey Island arc writer should! Hehe... You fight like a dairy farmer!! How appropriate! You fight like a cow!! XD Hilarious! I also promise that the following chapters will follow the true Monkey Island experience (or should I say the LucasArts experience) by using Guybrush's habit of picking up any random object he sees and combining them with other random objects to produce other random objects! This will be fun!!
Also in the story, we learned a few minor details about some Smashers and future relationships I plan to build around. Yup, I'm a Diddy x Dixie and a Kirby x Jigglypuff fan... the former because it's implied in the series itself and the latter because I SAY SO!!! The main point of all of this is that both Diddy and Kirby have got relationship problems that will play as crude in-jokes in my story.
So what does Booty Island hold in store for our humble crew? I don't know yet to be honest... I'll think about it and make a good next chapter soon, so don't fret, friends! If you have any ideas send them to me! Another question we should ask is, "Where are those Heartless that attacked the Smashers on Melee Island right now?" and yet another question is, "Where is the Keyhole of this world?" and, of course, the ever important question, "Who is that black stick figure?"
R&R my story! I'll be back!!!
