"So, what are we having for breakfast today, Kirby? I'm starving!"

"Well, if you don't stop dropping everything onto the floor and won't hold them carefully like I had asked you to, we may not even HAVE a breakfast!"

"Sorry…"

"OK, but just be more careful next time. I'm sick of cleaning your messes…"

A stove was turned on and the sound of sizzling bacon could be heard. That was the first thing that Mega Man heard that morning before obliviously waking up on the living room floor. He had been hung over from all the cake and soda pop he had consumed at the boxing stadium the other day. In addition to Little Mac's reveal, Master Hand had hosted yet another celebratory party to welcome the young boxer into the Smash Bros. roster. The Hand had called upon Kirby to prepare all of the victuals just seconds after Mac's introduction had completed, but due to the task having been given on such short notice, there wasn't much time to make each and every one of the provisions just right. As a result, everything became undercooked and inedible. To make matters worse, most of the Smashers spent the remainder of their time at the stadium vomiting, forcing the Hands to cut the party short and return to the mansion early.

Despite everything that had happened the day before, everyone was alive and well, and Master Hand promised that he would make it up to them.

After realizing that he would not be able to get any more sleep due to the ruckus being made in the kitchen, Rock sluggishly stood up and prepared himself for what lied ahead that day. As soon as he was in the kitchen, he realized that Kirby and his anonymous conversation partner were not present.

"I guess I'm making my own breakfast this morning…" Rock sighed, shrugging.

Just as the blue bomber walked closer to the refrigerator and reached for the handle on the door, a banana peel fell to the floor and was unfortunately placed where Rock was about to take his next step. Not noticing the peeled fruit, Rock slipped and was on the floor in a split second.

"Ouch! Who did that?!" he demanded to know. Picking up the banana peel, he exclaimed, "Whose banana is this?!"

"That would be mine. Sorry about that," said an unknown voice.

Puzzled, Rock looked up to find a small, brown monkey wearing a red shirt and a hat that had the Nintendo logo stitched onto it. The monkey tried to appear apologetic and polite, but Rock's dilemma appeared to humor it, as it was overcome with bouts of snickering.

"Stop laughing! It wasn't funny!" Rock hissed through gritting teeth.

"I know…" the monkey gasped, holding its aching ribcage, "but you have to admit, that was a pretty good trick! And it never gets old!"

Rock rolled his eyes. He never once admired a good prank, especially if it was pulled on him.

"Alright, I'll stop. I'm sorry," the monkey apologized, rubbing its eyes. "I'm Diddy Kong. And who might you be?"

"I'm Mega Man, but you can call me Rock." He shook Diddy's furry hand as he asked, "Did you say you were Diddy Kong? Do you happen to be related to Donkey Kong, by any chance?"

"Yes, I'm his nephew! I'm here because I was invited to return for the next Smash Bros. games!"

Rock jumped at the word "return". Just how many characters were returning, exactly?

"Did you say "return"? So you've been in a Smash Bros. game before?"

"Yeah, but only in Brawl…"

"Well, welcome back, I guess!"

"Thanks!" Diddy turned around; someone was calling for him. "Listen, I have to go. I'll see you around, Rock! Take care!"

"See you later!"

As soon as Diddy left and disappeared into the hallway, Rock resumed gathering everything for his breakfast, but once he pulled the carton of Lon Lon Milk out of the fridge, a demanding, feminine voice ordered, "Freeze!"

Rock immediately turned around and shot his arms into the air, still holding the carton. "I didn't do it!"

What he saw was a tall and thin woman that wore an elastic blue suit and had long, blond hair that was wrapped into a pony tail. She pointed a laser gun at Rock for a reason he was not sure of.

"Stay right where you are!" she ordered. "Drop the carton and nobody gets hurt!"

Rock did as he was told, but suddenly, he became entranced by this woman's attractive appearance, despite her menacing and cold demeanor.

"Excuse me, ma'am, but what is your name?"

"Samus," she answered sternly.

"Samus?" he asked himself. "Isn't there already a Samus here in an orange power suit?"

"If you're Samus, then why would you take of your power suit?"

"What?" she asked, lowering her gun and raising an eyebrow.

"You know…Your iconic orange suit that you wear in Metroid? Whatever happened to that?"

"I… don't understand."

Rock sighed heavily as the Samus in the power suit, who happened to eavesdrop on the conversation, walked in from the hallway.

"Didn't you hear, Mega Man? Master Hand made the decision that he wanted people to focus on just one moveset and decided not to let them change who they played as in the middle of a match."

"But why are there two of you?!"

"Well, for instance, Zero Suit Samus here has a whip and laser gun, while I have my own arsenal of weapons in my suit. That way, people will have a variety of characters and movesets to choose from."

Rock felt as if his head and the room were spinning. That has got to be one of the most obscure ideas to ever cross Master Hand's mind!

"Please don't tell me there's another character that has a double…"

"Well, actually…"

Just as Samus was about to explain to Mega Man, Princess Zelda walked in with her own doppelganger in tow. She moved like a ninja, had blond hair, and didn't seem to resemble Zelda at all.

"Hey, everyone!" she greeted. "This is Sheik! Looks like I won't be transforming into her this time around!"

The blue bomber instantly felt queasy. "Uh…I'm going outside! I need some fresh air," he announced.

Rock stepped outside and closed the sliding door behind him. He sat on the patio and pondered the whole situation. Why were there so many characters? What will be the total number of Smashers in the final game? And why wasn't Master Hand giving them an introduction that day? His thoughts were interrupted when he heard a certain red plumber screaming joyfully. He looked up, and witnessed Mario riding a green dinosaur with a huge, round nose and brown shoes.

"Why, hello-a there, Mega Man! It is such a beautiful-a day to ride a Yoshi!"

Rock's eyes widened. "Yoshi? You mean your green dinosaur friend? Is he in Smash Bros., too?"

"Why, of course-a!"

Rock was overwhelmed. This was all too much for him to take in! He burst through the sliding door, dashed though the hallway and flung himself onto his bed, all the while screaming in terror. His best friends Villager and Toon Link promptly responded to his distress call.

"What's with all the screaming?" Toon Link asked anxiously.

"What's wrong, buddy?" Villager asked, concerned for his friend's well-being.

Rock shook his head. "You guys wouldn't understand!"

Villager and Toon looked towards each other, seeming to share the same thought.

"Sure we would! You can tell us anything!"

"Well…alright." He stood up so that his legs hung over the edge of the bed. "Guys, I don't know what's wrong with me, but today I've been introduced by a horde of veteran Smashers. These guys just kept appearing left and right! Is it true or is it just my imagination?"

Scratching his head, Villager answered, "Strange…Normally you enjoy meeting new people!"

"Well, maybe I-"

"AAAAAHHHHHHHH!"

Rock was inadvertently cut off by a loud shriek. The trio, along with everyone else in the mansion, rushed to the source of the sound. It had come from Princess Peach, who was as troubled as a fly caught in a spider web. Why did she suddenly let out a blood-curdling scream?

Link rushed to her side and attempted to comfort her. "What's troubling you, Princess?"

The pink princess felt a knot tangle up in her throat. She struggled, but finally managed to, bring herself to say, "M-Mario is missing!"

The ever-growing roster of Smashers gasped in unison.

Mega Man was befuddled. Wasn't Mario just outside a minute ago?

After a long pause, Pit hesitantly asked, "What should we do?"

Samus pushed herself to the front of the crowd and instantly assumed leadership. "We're gonna save him, that's what we'll do! We'll need to assemble about four people, including myself, who would be willing to risk anything to make sure Mario is in safe hands!"

"I volunteer as tribute!" Kirby exclaimed.

"So do I!" Link chimed in.

"Anybody else?"

Everyone looked around the room, searching for a suitable hero/heroine to partake in Mario's rescue.

Suddenly, with a pointing finger, Samus blurted out, "You! Olimar! You're coming with us!"

Bowing his head, the little Pikmin-planter muttered, "Yes, ma'am."

"All right, I think that's enough! Onward, gentlemen!"

"What about the rest of us?" Wii Fit Trainer wanted to know.

Samus pondered this question for a second. "As for the rest of you…You'll be used as backup in case we need an extra set of hands. So, as I was saying, let's get out there and rescue Mario!"

Everyone abruptly marched out the mansion's front door feeling as though they had all received the Triforce of Courage. They knew this little journey would test their bravery as well as their strength.

"Has anyone seen Pikachu?"

Meanwhile, in a faraway canyon blanketed under a cloudy sky, hundreds of Pokéballs were randomly flung into the air and released countless Pokémon as soon as they touched the ground. Watching from high atop a cliff was none other than the electric Mouse Pokémon Pikachu. He looked up as a mighty, orange dragon let out a ferocious roar. It was the Flame Pokémon: Charizard!

Suddenly, without hesitation, Charizard leaped into the air high above the clouds and honed in on an unfortunate passerby far below. The passerby happened to be the missing Smasher Mario, whose instincts told him to look up after noticing the Pokémon's shadow in front of him. Mario was taken by surprise as Charizard heavily landed in front of him. The red plumber flipped backwards and landed in the midst of the four heroes that had previously set out to rescue him.

"Hey, how did you-a find me?"

Link patted him on the back. "It's a little hard to explain. But the important thing is that we're all together again!"

"Yeah, Peach was pretty upset when she realized you went missing!" Kirby laughed. "It's good to have you back, though!"

Mario blushed. "Hey! You're-a very good!"

"Alright, men, prepare for a battle with Charizard!" Samus commanded.

The party of five readied themselves with their trusty weapons in hand. Link carried his boomerang; Kirby held a Star Rod, and Olimar was equipped with his loyal Pikmin. Mario and Samus were going to battle with whatever they had in their arsenals.

As soon as the battle had commenced, a dark figure hiding in the shadows was preparing its own weaponry. Immediately, Link flung his boomerang, Kirby swung out a star, Samus shot out a rocket, Olimar threw a red Pikmin, and Mario charged headfirst into the exhilarating scuffle. The first four projectiles provided little to no effect, as Charizard dodged every one of them, and the Pikmin toppled over before it had a chance. As the fight went on, the dark figure's attack was increasing and growing stronger!

Just as Mario and Charizard were about to duke it out with their fiery powers, the figure's swift projectile intercepted the two and put their clash to a halt. Plumber and Pokémon exchanged glances, then looked off into the distance. Could it have been? No, the attack appeared as a light blue shuriken engulfed in a ball of water. Then, who had launched the unforeseen Water Shuriken? They watched as a long and swift…ninja hoisted itself to the top of the branch it was hanging from. Everybody, even those that hadn't partaken in the fight watched carefully and awaited the figure's next action. It stood motionlessly for a second…its long, scarf-like tongue waving in the wind.

Suddenly, it turned around and revealed its true identity. It was the Ninja Pokémon: Greninja! Charizard's eyes widened, as he had had an encounter with this very Greninja before.

"You?! What are you doing here? What was the point of that Water Shuriken?" Charizard roared.

The water-typed frog just eyed the lizard without an answer.

"You won't get away with this, Greninja!"

Coldly and sternly, Greninja replied, "The battle has just begun, my fellow Smashers," then swiftly sprung into the air and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

The entire Smash Bros. crew just stood in place with their mouths agape, as if they were frozen.

All of a sudden, a voice could be heard saying, "That was totally awesome!"

The rest of the Smashers followed the vibe of the exclaimed remark, exchanging hi-fives, wrapping each other around in bear hugs, and breathing easier knowing that Mario was safe. The Flame Pokémon shook the red plumber's hand as sort of an apology.

"Sorry about earlier, Mario."

"Don't-a worry about it!" Mario replied, grinning.

"I guess we'll have to get used to each other's company again, as well as Greninja's!"

Mario's smile turned into a mask of confusion. "Again? What-a do you-a mean "again"?"

Nearby, Mega Man and Villager were listening to their conversation.

"Do they mean we're getting more characters?" Rock asked before suddenly fainting.

Villager shook his head at his odd friend, and all the while, Marth was feeling heartbroken. The entire process of receiving one addition to the roster after the other got his hopes up, as he was starting to believe that a certain someone from his own franchise would also return as a veteran. After seeing that he didn't appear that day, Marth went to bed that night with a heavy and broken heart. But before falling asleep, he realized that the Smash Bros. games had not yet been completed, and that given time, maybe…just maybe…

…Ike would return.

Author Notes: I'm back! Yes, I'm still alive! XD
So here's the long-awaited sixth chapter! Sorry it took me two months to get it done...I had been busy with school and finals, but now that my summer break has finally begun, I can get back to writing once more!

Question: What sort of Smash Bros.-related things do you expect to see at E3?