Chapter 3: A Not-So-Wonderful Life

Lucas stirred fretfully in his sleep, thinking about his brother Claus in Tazmily Village, when a bright light shone out of nowhere. Startled, he jolted himself awake and saw a young woman with long green hair smile warmly back at him. The young woman was carrying a gold staff with a blue handle in one hand and a mirror shield as shiny as a thousand diamonds in the other. Situated on top of her head was a laurel crown that radiated pure golden light. Her dress was bedecked with emeralds, a red fibula, and numerous gold accessories.

And when the woman spoke, her voice was warm. "Hello, Lucas."

Lucas looked up at her, trembling with trepidation. "W-Who are y-you?"

"My name is Paletuna," the woman answered. "I am your Christmas angel. I am here to make sure that you have a very nice Christmas this year."

"Yeah, well, you are kind of too late," Lucas snapped, abandoning all traces of fear and assuming a demeanor of annoyance. "I ruined Christmas for all the Smashers so I'm leaving for home in the morning. That way, I won't have to worry about screwing anything else up ever again."

"As your Christmas angel, I caution you not to proceed on such rash and impulsive judgment," Paletuna asked, concerned. "You do not know what lies out there between the Smash Mansion and Tazmily."

"Who are YOU to say what I can't do?" Lucas retorted acidly, preparing a charge of PK Fire from his fingertips. "Aren't you supposed to be Pit's friend or something?"

"Yes," Paletuna answered, a bit tetchy, "but as the ruler of Angel Land, it is my duty to look after all human beings, whatever universe they may be from."

"PK FIRE!" Lucas, having had enough, fired the bolt at Paletuna, who easily reflected it with the Mirror Shield and sent it flying back at Lucas. He yelped and ducked out of the way just in time. He watched as his own attack burned up his bed sheets a bit, then went out. Lucas faced Paletuna again.

"Okay," he said, breathing heavily, "so you are real, but I still want to leave this place for home."

"Come, take my hand," Paletuna said, extending her arm. "Time for you to see what Christmas at the Smash Mansion would be like without you."

Very reluctantly, Lucas did what he was told, and together they disappeared in a blur of white light.

When Lucas and Paletuna landed, they saw themselves in the Great Hall of the Smash Mansion, where everyone had their meals. It was an amazing sight. A whole assortment of Christmas food met their eyes: apple pies, pumpkin pies, trifle, fudge, brownies, cake, eggnog, fruitcake, gingerbread, and ham. Seated at the table were the few Smashers who truly enjoyed this time of year: Princess Peach of the Mushroom Kingdom, King Dedede of Dream Land, and Captain Douglas Jay Falcon. They were unwrapping their Christmas gifts when the rest of the Smashers, led by the blue Pokemon Lucario, came in. Everyone was yawning; some were blinking their eyes heavily, others just muttering a Merry Christmas to whoever happened to be nearby. Soon, the table filled until only one seat remained.

At last, when everyone was seated down, Link rang a glass. "Fellow Smashers, at this year, there is no difference between any of us. This is the one time of year when we are one big family, and when there is no such thing as a Hylian or Metroidian, or Mushroomite. On this day, He came down to Earth and blessed us with many miracles, such as making blind men see or lame men walk. It was thanks to Him that we are gathered here today in a sense of camaraderie, and not in spite or enmity. May there be peace on Earth and between us. Amen."

The crowd responded in unison, "Amen."

Lucas turned to Paletuna. "They don't seem upset to me."

"Wait for it," was all Paletuna said.

Suddenly, while everyone was indulging themselves on bits of fruitcake, Snake, a hardened veteran who at down the far right, piped up, "Hey, where is Lucas? He should be out here celebrating with us."

There was a general murmur of assent among the crowd.

"Luigi," Link said to a man in green who sat in between Mario and Peach, "wake up Lucas. Tell him that he is missing the best part of the feast." Luigi, without further ado, got up and disappeared down the hall.

Lucas looked at Paletuna again in confusion, who smiled ruefully at him. "Watch what happens," she instructed.

Sometime later, Luigi came back to the hall running, breathing heavily with a look of terror on his face. "Bad a-news," he reported. "Lucas is a-gone!"

The whole room let out a collective gasp, then broke out into rounds of hissing and muttering.

"B-But where could he go?" Bowser, a giant turtle with an orange mane of hair, grunted. "There aren't any other cities here for miles!"

"Pi?" Pikachu turned confusedly to Kirby, who just shrugged.

"Was there a note or anything?" Samus asked, tears flooding her eyes. Lucas could that she was beginning to regret having snapped at him.

"I'm afraid a-so," Luigi replied sadly, producing a note from his pocket. "Here it is." He read aloud:

If you have read this note, then Mr. Saturn's food bowl is empty, and he needs to take a bath. It also means that it has been also one year since I have split town for Tazmily Village, and no one knows until now. Dear friends, I am very sorry for your ruining your Christmas, and I pray that my absence will make everything better for your holiday. No one needs to worry, I'll never ruin anyone's Christmas ever again. Love, Lucas.

Luigi lowered the note. "That's all," he stated.

"This is terrible." Link sat down in defeat. "I didn't mean to be that upset with him. I . . . I don't know what to do now."

"I shouldn't have said that he ruined our Christmas," Ike bemoaned. "Now look where that has gotten us." Marth concurred with him in Japanese.

"I'm sorry, buddy, wherever you are," Ness groaned. "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. It was an accident, I should have forgiven you."

"So much for a Merry Christmas," Ganondorf sighed. "What's the point of celebrating when your friend isn't around?" He raised his empty mug. "To Lucas, wherever you are."

"To Lucas." Everyone raised their glasses in accordance. Lucas watched the scene in front of him fade to black. Then he turned to face Paletuna.

"Paletuna," he started, "what's going on here? Just the other day, they said that I ruined Christmas, and now they mourn my disappearance? What trickery is this?"

Paletuna sighed. "Oh Lucas, don't you get it? Despite what they may have told you, they considered you to be family, and they couldn't celebrate without you because they truly loved you." She sprayed some magic dust. "And you never could have made it home." She pointed into the vision that her dust created. "Look." Lucas turned his head and gasped.

He saw his body lying in a field of snow, his eyes closed and drool dribbling out of his mouth. A long gash ran across his cheek, leaking what was unmistakably blood. In the distance, he heard a low growling sound. Suddenly, a wolf-like creature with fangs as sharp as knives leapt out of the background and sank its teeth into his body. Lucas let out a cry of shock, and the wolf-like creature faced him. Just then, the vision ended.

Lucas turned to Paletuna pleadingly. "Please," he implored, "take me back home. I don't wish to suffer what I have seen on this accursed night. I want to go back home and tell my friends that I love them, and that I care about them, and that I am sorry that I ruined Christmas for them. Please, Paletuna, take me back! I beg you, take me back home!"

Paletuna smiled warmly. "My work here is done," she smiled warmly, then snapped her fingers. The next thing Lucas knew, he was back in bed muttering to himself, "I wanna go home, I wanna go home . . ." Just then, someone was shoving him roughly and a familiar voice was saying, "Wake up, Lucas! It's Christmas!" Groggily, Lucas woke up and saw who it was.

It was Ness.