Chapter 2
"I tried the eating area, and found Dedede and GW arguing about whose hammer is bigger. I think, I can't really understand what 'Quack, wack'-'BEEEPP' means, but they kept holding their mallets up and yelling. So my next stop was the living room, where I found Lucas and Olimar arguing about the paradoxes present in the of the Terminator films. Lastly, in the Bad Guy Lounge, I found Wario and Ganondorf doing…something that is not easily put into words." She shivered. "I wouldn't recommend going into the North wing bathroom for at least a day. After looking all over this god forsaken mansion, I have to ask, why do you always come to the freezer? Why not just go to the gym? Is it so that no one will find you, because we will it'll just take a while." Bare skin, as Samus still wore a more revealing outfit than normal, was chapped and more than once she rubbed her chest and arms to keep the circulation up. By the density of the frost present on his fur, she would say that Wolf had been in here for at least half an hour.
"You can feel the tendons, the muscle, the bone, yield better when you beat the crap out of a slab of meat, more than if you hit a bag," Wolf explained, though didn't break stride in the slightest. "Besides, I'm tenderizing the meat. Makes it taste better. Ain't it great when something can be better just by hitting it?"
"Are you hungry? You want to get something to eat?"
That made Wolf stop. He thought to himself, looked at his boots, twitched his ears, and resumed punching.
"Its bothering you, isn't it?" Samus asked.
"That you're still here? Yeah, it is."
"This whole thing, that you still suspect someone tried to kill Mewtwo and Lucario. I have to admit, this is weird. I mean, if someone made an attempt on your life I figure you would go after them like a hound from hell. If you were afraid someone was going to make an attempt on your life, you would just round up everyone in the mansion and beat the crap out of them to make a point. But this, you haven't been targeted and there's no evidence that you are next, if its anyone at all, so why are you so bothered by this?"
"See the fur, the teeth, the claws? I'm a wolf; it's in my nature to watch out for the pack."
"You think we're your pack? That's so cute."
"Yep, and you're my mate, what's another name for a wolf's mate?"
"We haven't mated yet," she said.
Wolf's ear's twitched. "Of course we haven't."
"Do I have to keep my doors locked?"
"Like I can't pick a lock. Look Sammy, for better or worse, I spend enough time with you idiots that I have come to view you as my territory. Now so long as you are my territory, I will slaughter any twit who decides to mess with you."
"But you suspect one of us as the wrong doer?"
"That's where the hierarchy comes in. See, I'm the alpha, and you're my bitch. Mewtwo, Link, Bowser, Nana, they're my betas, my second in commands, the guys and gals I like. Now whoever is doing this has fucked with one of my betas, and that can't be let go. Everyone else is a gamma or omega or however the hell it goes. I don't really care about them too much, but I'll protect em."
"You want to get something to drink or not?"
"No, I want to beat the crap out of this slab of beef. Can't you see that?"
"Fine, you can do that. But let's talk. What do Mewtwo and Lucario have in common?"
"They are pokemon," Wolf offered.
"Alright, so who has a grudge against pokemon?"
"Red, he's a trainer after all. Maybe he wants to catch 'em all. Ganandorf may have done it, simply because he's a dick. R.O.B. was sick of them shedding on the couch. Face it Samus, look hard enough and everyone has a motive. Hell, I'm a dog, Mewtwo is a cat. May as well put my name on that little list yours."
"Then how do you propose we go about finding who has been doing this?"
"I already brought Arbiter in, just let him look around. He's good at watching people, he'll find the link that we're missing."
"What link is that?"
"If I knew, it wouldn't be missing." He sighed, leaning back. "I've got a match tomorrow against Fox. I don't have time to be bothered by this crap."
But he was bothered. Fox was a good fighter, Samus would make no implications about his skill, but Wolf should do a better job than what he was doing now. He was vicious and brutal, clawing and snapping like a wild animal and still had as much fury as he ever did. Wolf was a monster really, an animal, but that was the problem. He wasn't just fighting like an animal, he was thinking like one. He lacked the grace, the intelligence, the keenness to his movements that defied his style. Tactical slashes gave way to blind aggression. Samus could see his every mistake clearly in the big screen television that showed a live feed of the match. Worse, Fox saw this too.
He was peppering Wolf with shots, and Wolf just charged through only to get a boot to the jaw that sent him reeling. Roaring and snapping, he clawed and scrapped, and Fox had a merry time dancing around him. Even when he fell into a familiar rhythm of clawing, smashing, chucking Fox across the platform like Bowser would Ness, he just didn't have the finesse to press the attack. When Fox booted him off the platform, he fell a long time before activating the jet pack on his back. He shot through the air, only to misjudge his direction and crack his head against the bottom of the stage. His pained howl echoed a long time, even after the match was declared over and the screen faded to black.
---
"I don't want to talk about it," Wolf snarled as he passed Samus, who leaned smugly against the wall.
"Talk about what? That pathetic match that you were just in? I mean, I've seen bad. I don't think anyone will ever forget that passive resistance tactic that Link tried against Zelda."
"Little fag," Wolf muttered under his breath.
"But he had the excuse of fighting the woman he loved. You are just acting stupid."
"Don't I have the right to be stupid? Can't I have my moments of fault? I just want to find out what happening before someone gets blown up, alright?"
"You want to get a drink?"
"What is with you and drinking, that is not the answer to all life's problems!" Wolf shouted.
"I am trying to get you to go out on a date, you stupid little mutt."
"Oh?"
---
"So your name is the Arbiter? That's a funny name. You're funny!"
"Actually, my title is 'the Arbiter'. I relinquished my name when I failed to take Installation 004 from the human guerrillas and their Demon. It was destroyed and I was shamed for my lack of action, my failure. My name and rank was stripped from me. I was to be executed, but given a chance to redeem myself by taking the title of Arbiter and dying a noble death in battle. However, I uncovered a massive, long reaching conspiracy, allied with my sworn enemies, and saved the galaxy, but my past life is lost forever."
"That's sad. Do you want a hug?"
"Who are you again?"
"I'm Nana. I'm here with my brother, but he's off hanging with Bowser. I want my own giant lizard person to hang out with."
"I am not your pet, tiny pink human."
"Okay, I can be your pet if you want."
"I don't want anything, I just want to perform my investigation so that I can leave. Wolf is a comrade of mine, I am here as a favor, and in the hopes he will feel obligated to aid me in the future. Someone like Wolf can be quite useful."
"What investigation is that?"
"The one of you who is attacking your comrades. Wolf seems to believe that foul play is involved with the attack on the ones called Mewtwo and Lucario, the feline and the jackal humanoids."
"Super-cat and Anubis?"
The Arbiter sighed and shook his head, looking around the mess hall, hoping to find the attacker as well as someone to pass the child on to, but fate was not smiling on him today. No one seemed surprise by his presence. There were occasional whispers and hisses, particularly between a pink piece of chewing gum and a big eyed, green garbed cartoon child, but for the most part no one seemed to mind. But no one was coming up to him either. Whenever he passed the one called Mewtwo in the hallway, they both froze and engaged in a sort of stare down, until the Arbiter, having no interest in a fight, stepped aside, allowing the feline to walk past.
"Do you really think it was someone?"
"No, but I am not very good at seeing the sinister undertones of people who claim to be my comrades."
"I am!" she shouted. "I think it was Jigglypuff! There is something shifty about her hair."
"What is a Jigglypuff?"
"She's sitting over there. About a foot in diameter, big green eyes, Elvis style hair. Not Kirby, Kirby is a darker shade of pink and wears shoes."
"Why do all of you decide to take a lunch break at the same time?"
"I don't know. It would really be better if we had a schedule set up or something. That way we wouldn't have all the brawls. See the big nosed guy with green undershirt and hat? That's Luigi, he's Mario's brother and is in a relationship with Daisy, but has an unrealized crush on Peach as well as Zelda. He's about to collide with the blue penguin, that's Dedede. Dedede is mad because as it turns out, his hammer is smaller than GW's so he's just itching for a fight. Now once I finish this sentence, Blue and Green are going to collide."
"WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING YOU LITTLE GREEN-TARD!"
"Now, normally, Luigi would just grit his teeth and take it like a prison bitch. But Mario got the last of the spaghetti so he was forced to take the ziti. You cannot believe how angry he is. Now! Here comes Mario to defend his brother."
The Arbiter watched, with some level of interest, as the big nosed green one looked down and cringed as the overweight penguin began a verbal berate. A red one, looking a bit like the green one but shorter and plumper, waddled over, only to get a fist across the jaw, not from the penguin, but from the green one.
"Is this always how your breakfasts go?" the Arbiter asked, calmly ducking his head to avoid a green missile, shrieking across the cafeteria. Certainly the short red one was not to be triffled with. He picked Nana up around the ribs between his index finger and inner thumb and placed her at his opposite side, so he could easier catch any additional projectiles. For better or worse, she was an innocent, and he felt an urge to protect something so delicate.
"No, usually Roy starts something. He's a wee bit sensitive about getting the pink slip."