Disclaimer: I don't own Super Smash Brothers or any of the characters in the series.

Author's Note: I just want to say that this story is a dedication to a friend of mine. As a tribute to the years of friendship we'd had, I'd tried to mimic his writing style in this fanfic. Without him, I wouldn't have pursued my desire to write or draw. Rest in peace, my friend.

x-x-x-x-x

For once in a long while, Lucas had slept peacefully; no horrifying nightmares or painful flashbacks haunted him while he rested.

But he was a rather light sleeper, and as the scent of something alluring reached his nose, he found himself waking up. Sitting up slowly, a small yawn escaped his lips, and he paused to glance at his window. The sun was in the process of rising, giving the horizon a breathtaking radiating glow. Staring at this beautiful scene made him smile; he had never woken up this early to see such a sight!

…But the mouth-watering odor caught his nose again, and he looked for the source.

…No way…

He stared in awe at the tray on his nightstand; upon it was a glass of orange juice, a note, and several omelettes carefully placed on a plate. Some of the omelettes had ketchup doodles on them, and others had been left plain.

Curious, he restrained himself from digging into the delicious food and, instead, picked up the note.

'Lucas,

I apologize for any pain that I have caused you. You might not forgive me so easily, and I do not expect you to, but perhaps I can redeem myself over time. If anyone else starts to bully you again, remember this:

You are a strong person! Believe in your strengths, try to improve on your weaknesses, and smile! Believe in yourself; you can overcome many obstacles! I have faith in you; I know that you have more power inside of you that has yet to be unleashed!'

That's when Lucas's vision began to blur.

…He…he wrote this…for me…?

Quickly wiping his eyes, he realized that there was more written on the note.

'…Do not forget about the breakfast I brought you! I hope that you do not mind ketchup on your food; I could not resist doodling a bit…but I left some plain just in case!

Take care for now, Lucas!'

In the bottom right corner of the note, there was a quick, rough sketch of Lucas himself in a battle pose.

…He drew this for me, too…

The little doodle on the note was uplifting; even after he'd pushed Ness hard last night – and possibly injured him in the process – his friend had forgiven him. He'd even offered to sing a song for Lucas; something that was extremely rare, considering that none of the kids ever sang…

…Not in public, at least…

Smiling a bit, Lucas carefully put the note away so that it wouldn't get crumpled or ruined. He turned to the omelettes and stared at the doodles in awe. While they had merely been created with ketchup, they still looked nice; each omelette that had the red condiment on it seemed to be a type of background. Interesting scenery that almost seemed to come to life – well, in Lucas' mind, anyway – intrigued him, and he smiled.

…Thank you, Ness.

~x~x~x~

As Lucas walked through the hallway, he realized that his body felt lighter – as if a tremendous weight had been lifted from him – and he noticed that he felt happy; a smile seemed to be stuck on his face, but it felt…genuine. For once, his usual forced smile wasn't on his face today, which surprised the blonde boy himself, but his happy expression didn't falter.

…Well, after what Ness did for me last night, I feel a lot better now. Maybe I can get him to sing that song at the next Karaoke Night. What's the name of the song that he sang…?

He realized that song wasn't familiar to him at all; he'd have to ask Ness about it if he wanted to know more. Lucas mentally shrugged and walked in the direction of the Battle Rooms. He could ask Ness later, after all of the requested battles were over. If he was lucky, he wouldn't be assigned any battles today. Of course, it all depended on who put up match requests on the Battle Monitor, including any fans who sent in their own requests about who they wanted to see brawling. Of course, for the 'popular' Smashers, that meant a lot of brawling each day, while the 'lesser' Smashers could relax a bit more and focus on their own personal hobbies.

I guess that's why I should be happy that I'm not a swordsman…

Soon, Lucas was in the Battle Lobby, and he noticed that a few other fighters were either lounging on the couches provided in the area or checking their own schedules for the day. He walked up to the giant screen that displayed which fighters would fight each other at certain times, as well as the type of battles they would be involved in. Glancing through the names, he realized that he wasn't assigned any fights today.

"Hey, wimpy psychic clone."

Lucas frowned at the weak insult and at the familiar voice stating it.

…Wolf is still angry at my fluke win, isn't he…?

"Yo, scaredy-cat, I'm talking to you!"

Lucas didn't turn around to acknowledge the rude name-calling; that would only add more fuel to the fire, after all, and he didn't want that. Instead, he waited for Wolf to get closer to talk. However, the blonde psychic didn't count on the annoyed humanoid canine to punch him in the shoulder. He turned around, rubbing his now aching shoulder and frowning at the taller Smasher.

"I challenge you to another match…unless you're too much of a chicken."

Lucas felt his good mood deteriorating, slowly getting closer to the sea of sorrow.

What does he have to gain from another match from me? After all, my previous win was just a fluke…Although…he probably wants to rub an easy victory in my face, as usual…and I don't doubt that he'd win this time…

However, something tugged him back, pulling him away from the familiar sad sensation.

'Lucas, do not give in! You just have to believe in yourself! I have faith in you! I know that you are strong; prove everyone else wrong and show them that you are done holding back!'

…Ness…?

Lucas blinked a bit, confused. His friend had just sent him a telepathic message, hadn't he? Not only that, but his words had been encouraging. The blonde boy remembered the note that Ness had left for him, how nice the other psychic had been, and how supportive the darker-haired psychic had become after seeing his plight.

"What's the matter, wimp? Too scared?"

Suddenly feeling a strong boost of confidence, Lucas glared at Wolf, startling the other Smasher momentarily before he replied.

"Scared? Hardly! I'm just wondering why you're challenging me if my win yesterday was just a fluke. Or maybe you're just trying to save face and make yourself look tougher than you actually are, because, technically, you're a clone of both Fox and Falco."

He paused, letting the words sink in before smirking.

"Or is the Big Bad Wolf suffering from low self-esteem so badly that he has to beat up a little boy to prove his worth?"

It wasn't until the expression on Wolf's face changed to shock that Lucas realized what he said.

…That wasn't me, was it?

However, the 'Big Bad Wolf' soon looked enraged, his eyes narrowing and his lips pulling back into a snarl, showing off his sharp teeth.

"Listen here, punk, if you think you can get away with insulting me, you're sadly mistaken!"

Wolf started to advance on Lucas as the boy backed away slowly; the bigger Smasher was clearly angry and not wanting to leave without a fight. Before the angry anthro could cause any harm towards the boy, two gloved hands reached out and pulled Lucas out of the way.

"Hey, now, Wolfie, it's not cool to pick on the kids. If you wanna settle things, there's the Battle Rooms. After all, you know how Master Hand gets when fights happen outside the designated areas…"

Wolf snarled at the new threat, and Lucas realized that he was looking at sharp, blue quills.

…Sonic?

"Out of the way, hedgehog, I've got some unfinished business to deal with."

Lucas watched as Sonic's mouth upturned into a playful grin.

"If it's business you need to take care of, I'd suggest heading to the bathrooms. I don't think anyone would appreciate it if Wolfie left us all 'little presents' in the hallways…"

The speedy blue hedgehog laughed as Wolf's face went red before a loud growl came from the completely ticked off anthro. Of course, the hedgehog seemed to have one more trick up his non-existent sleeve…

"What? No clever retorts? Well, Wolfie, I guess that you're too slow!"

In less than a millisecond, Lucas realized that he was grabbed as Sonic made a run for it, laughing as the extremely angry Wolf chased them. The other Smashers in the lobby watched, completely stupefied, as Wolf tried to chase the ever-elusive Sonic, who was carrying a very surprised and confused Lucas while he ran.

…What is this, I don't even…