By the time the trio reached the shore, they were already getting odd looks. This made sense.

I mean, even on Isle Delfino, half - awake, heavily scarred elves, post - sob angels, and spiky haired men muttering to themselves with a humongous sword in tow aren't exactly commonplace.

The three in question (or, rather, Cloud with Link and Pit hesitantly following) made it halfway up the beach before Marth, Roy, and Ike caught up.

"Hey man, what's up? You doin' good?" Ike called to Cloud.

Cloud sent a look that was less withering and more mildly degrading.

Ike pressed on, undaunted. "Was' goin' on, mah [Well educated and respected person of African - American heritage]?"

Cloud turned around violently, nearly slicing off Roy's head in the process. "We're going to kill Palutena!"

Ike took a step back and raised his hands in a placating gesture. "Man, you know Ah fight fo' mah [Well educated and respected people of African - American heritage], but you know Ah gotta have reasons to not give peeps sympathy!"

The question drove Cloud into more of a rage. "That bitch called BvB overrated!"

Link nudged Cloud and gestured towards Pit, sitting on a nearby rock.

Cloud, in a moment of clarity, sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "Aaaaaand, she's molesting Pit."

A flare of red hot anger burned its way through Ike's eyes. With no trace of stereotype in his voice, Ike growled "Let's go." And began following Cloud, stomping up shore heedless of the grit beneath his toes.

"Lord Ike, Messenger Cloud, I implore you to rethink this rage propelled quest of yours," Marth calmly interjected. "While I share your outrage on the matter of Pit's situation, if not Cloud's personal preferences in the medium of auditory experience, I believe a battle with a goddess of Palutena's caliber, on her terms, would be directly counter productive to our plans, much less our survival. I propose we outline a plan before engaging her."

Cloud shuddered and gave a "holy giant wall of text, Batman!" while Ike only contributed a terse "fine."

*Around a cold beach firepit, fifteen minutes later*

"Okay. Let the war room begin," said Roy with an official air he had no right to showcase. Ike rolled his eyes but didn't interject.

"Guys? This is insane! Mommy is a goddess, and if we're not in a smash, she won't have to hold back!" Pit was nearly hyperventilating now.

"He has a point," contributed Link, slouched over the firepit. "Unless we can fight on our terms, we cannae even get close. Our best bet is either a sneak attack or an insanely imbalanced smash."

There was a silence. Link sighed.

"We're just gonna attack head on, aren't we?"

A/N

Ok. This was... a little late, not gonna lie. I'm not gonna make excuses - I kinda just lost motivation.

Anyway though, you can look forward to a chapter or two of mediocre fight scenes. Maybe. Assuming I don't go on another months - long hiatus and then emerge with nothing but a lackluster chapter to show for it.

Anyway, until next time, this is SubparHoot, over and out.

Do I even need to explain how nerdy that was?