I managed to make this for the Fourth of July. I should've been far along with this by now, but things continue taking my attention away. It can't be helped, but I still hope you all enjoy the chapters to come.
"Yeah! It's here at last!" Ness cheered loudly. "The day's finally come!"
"I don't get it," Toon Link responded. "What's special about this weekend?"
"He might be excited for the fireworks tonight," Villager offered. "I remember on certain days and weekends like this, my town celebrated with what was known as the Fireworks Show. I didn't understand too much behind it aside from it being fun to celebrate with poppers, sparklers, and even recently having the chance to design your own fireworks."
"Exactly!" Ness exclaimed. "You get me so well, Villager! There's nothing better than to celebrate the Fourth of July with some good, old-fashioned, red-blooded firecrackers bursting in the night sky! Eagleland!"
The three of them were out in the spacious backyard of the Smash Mansion, watching the other Smashers set up various wooden booths and decorations to celebrate this particular day. Villager and Toon Link didn't understand what was so important about July 4, but at least according to Ness, it was a big thing to celebrate that day with colorful fireworks and junk food.
Of course, no one could really go wrong with fireworks unless they somehow mess up and blow themselves up to kingdom come.
"I'm guessing that the booths are also for tonight's activities?" Toon Link surmised from the current observations.
"That's usually one of the more traditional ways of celebration," Villager explained. "Maybe we can have a booth of our own."
"I liked that idea of yours in designing your own fireworks display," Ness suggested.
"But I don't think we're in charge of the fireworks… or even authorized to be near them," Villager replied with uncertainty.
"Yeah, remember Ness batting a bomb into Alph's fruit?" Toon Link jested. "Ha ha! I still have stitches looking back at it."
"Idiot! That's because you threw the bomb at me instead of a baseball!" Ness retorted. "Besides, that chapter was posted a ways back now. It's old news!"
"'Chapter'? Huh?" Toon Link repeated.
"I don't think we should mention anything to him about chapters or readers," Villager whispered into Ness's ear. "He probably had no such encounters in his last adventures."
"Encounters with what?" Toon Link question, barely hearing the last part of Villager's sentence. "What are you guys talking about?"
"Don't worry about it," Villager waved off. "Let's just see if we can have our firework design booth approved."
"Besides, Pit and Palutena had demolished the fourth wall long ago," Ness snickered under his breath as his other two friends were leaving, giving you a surreptitious wink. "All of them."
A few moments later…
"I'm afraid I'll have to deny that request of you three managing a firework design booth," Master Hand concluded. "It's not you, Villager. It's more on your friends, really."
"I guess I can understand that," Villager answered, guiltily scratching the back of his head. "But I can manage the booth on my own."
"Hey! What about us?" Ness demanded. "We never abused explosives before! At least outside of battles!"
"Hmm, let's see," Master Hand began with amusement. "I don't need to remind you of the mishap you caused Alph."
"Why does everyone seem to keep bringing it up?" Ness whined while Toon Link patted his back.
"There was also the incident where you hid tiny firecrackers in Ganondorf's curry last week, the time you sent a PK Fire on Rosalina's special bomb flower from Zelda, and need I bring up the 'rancid accident'?" Master Hand pressed on.
"That was all Toon Link!" Ness retorted. "He wanted to do a prank he came up with so we let him!"
"Yeah, that backfired big time," Toon Link admitted nonchalantly. "You also forgot to mention breaking Lucina's window."
"Wait, you broke Lucina's window?!" Master Hand questioned. "It took hours to calm that woman down! I'm a busy entity of creation and master of Smash, not a part-time window repairman!"
"Way to go, Toon Link," Ness griped, slapping a hand onto his forehead.
"Moving on, the mentioned offenses and more altogether is also reason why I'm not allowing Villager to manage the firework design booth alone, regardless of how diligent he is," Master Hand explained. "He was, unfortunately, your accomplice in all of them."
"So now what do we do?" Villager asked.
"I'll tell you what," Master Hand proposed. "Your idea for firework design would no doubt be a hit activity among the other Smashers. During the festivities, we'll have a couple of Smashers I deem responsible enough to be in charge of overseeing the firework designing and we'll provide the basic firework kits. Our kits should not accidentally go off and will only ignite under our authorization, so you all are free to use your powers to magnify your designs. Sound good?"
The three young Smashers exchanged glances with one another, coming to a silent agreement regarding Master Hand's plan for the evening. Ness stepped up to deliver the final response.
"We'll take it," Ness affirmed.
From within the nearby bushes…
Bowser Jr. and Larry were spying on the three young fighters that had just gotten an approval of doing a firework design activity from Master Hand for tonight's festivities. The Koopa Prince was fuming at the sight of them so happy and successful.
"Those big-shots think they can run this stupid summer festival the way they want it to," Bowser Jr. protested.
"Um, sure?" Larry spoke, shrugging.
"Well they won't!" Bowser Jr. resumed.
"Okay then," Larry said casually.
"So here's what we're going to do to mess with everyone's fireworks so that we come out on top," Bowser Jr. began. "Time to get the other Koopalings!"
With that said, the two of them swiftly left their bush hiding spot to find their fellow mischievous comrades to begin plotting the festival firework takeover.
That evening…
The Smash Mansion backyard was buzzing with activity in celebration for this day. For food, Mario, Charizard, and Ike were behind the grill, or rather grills to feed everyone. Several Smashers like Peach, Rosalina, Little Mac, Wii Fit Trainer, Meta Knight, Robin, and R.O.B. were considered responsible and trustworthy enough to lead the various food and activity booths scattered about.
And of course everyone else was free to go about and play.
"You know, I'm actually glad we're not in charge of a booth," Ness admitted, finishing off a stick of cotton candy he got. "Then we couldn't play with the other booths. Woo! Freedom! Eagleland!"
"Dude, you're way too into this," Toon Link muttered, exasperated by the PSI boy's overbearing spirit for the day. "Though I have to ask what's up with that getup, Villager. I mean, I thought Mario's stars-and-stripes outfit was over the top."
In place of his casual shirt and shorts, Villager was wearing a fine robe of an exotic and rather foreign style. It was mostly colored as red as his shirt with blue lining, trimming, and sash. White stars were lined along the trimming. He also had wooden geta sandals with white socks on his feet.
"It's a summer festival robe Isabelle sent to me just for this occasion," Villager explained, taking a drink from a small bottle of root beer he got from Mega Man's refreshments booth. "I said I would wear it for her and I think it looks cool. I just need to send some pictures over to her on me having fun in her designed robe. She does so much for me. I wish she could've come too."
"Not going to judge, but it's certainly… old-school?" Toon Link replied.
"Let him wear what he wants, Toon Link," Ness intervened, waving it off. "Freedom of wearing whatever you want! Or not wearing what you want! Boo-yah!"
"I'm hoping he does not run off naked after that," Villager whispered worriedly.
"I think he told me he was naked in some dream near the end of his adventure," Toon Link responded quietly. "I think it was after getting the last melody or something."
"Hey, I think we're getting off topic," Villager spoke aloud. "Let's find out about the firework design. I think I heard that Link and Luigi were placed in charge of it."
"This should be fun," Ness commented.
The three of them explored further through the yard, passing some of the game and snack booths that they already played in and waved to the owners of said booths. As Villager had predicted, they found Luigi and Link standing in front of a small sitting crowd composed of Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Fox, Falco, Zelda, Palutena, Pit, Olimar, Shulk, Kirby, and Bowser Jr. The two green-clad Smashers wore white apron uniforms, signifying their authority given from the Hands to lead the activity.
"O-kay!" Luigi cheered, pumping a fist in the air. "… How does this start again?"
"It's simple," Link chuckled briefly. "Alright, everyone. Hopefully the reason you're here is because you want to submit designs for the fireworks tonight. Master Hand and Crazy Hand have left me and Luigi in charge of helping you all out with your firework designs. So you all are welcome to partner up or work solo in making designs. Then when you've gotten something figured out, hand them over to me or Luigi and we'll make the final preparations. Any questions? … Yes, Palutena?"
"I've got a couple, actually," Palutena began. "My first question is if we're allowed to use our powers to influence the designs."
"To a certain extent," Link answered. "This is why you're first submitting your final designs to either Luigi or me. We make sure you guys don't go overboard with the setup and executions. Does that answer your question?"
"Yep," Palutena replied cheerily with a wink. "My second question is this. Do you want to work together with me?"
"Hey!" Pit and Zelda cried out, affronted by the Goddess of Light's lighthearted suggestion.
"Uh, I feel like I'm already working with all of you," Link said sheepishly, holding his hands up to usher down any rising tension. "As Master Hand's representative for this activity, I can't really show favoritism."
"So does that include Zelda?" Palutena teased, much to the Hyrulean Princess's mortification.
"Really, for someone in your position to be playing that kind of game," Zelda muttered, struggling to hide her blush before taking a deep calming breath. "You heard Link. He and Luigi will be helping us all equally."
"Come now, Zelda, lighten up," Palutena continued playfully. "Being goddess reincarnate yourself, you're entitled to whatever you desire. This fine Hero of Hyrule isn't a bad choice. Of course, if you continue stalling…"
"Now's not the time to discuss this!" Zelda warned, surprising herself with her lack of tact just now. She looked up at Link, who was now sporting a blush of his own and appeared to be fascinated with Meta Knight's goldfish-catching game booth nearby. Great… Now he's embarrassed of me.
"I guess I've been stepping a bit out of bounds," Palutena intervened to prevent further embarrassment for her fellow female Smasher. "No hard feelings, right Zelda?"
"Err… right," Zelda mumbled.
"Oh, Lady Palutena," Pit sighed.
The Captain of her Guard knew how much she can be quite a handful towards other people. He was already used to her toying with him from time to time, but he was worried if the other fighters wouldn't take her antics with stride like him. Zelda was typically the mature and powerful figure she always carried herself to be, but as a mortal, she was still prone to human matters. Her temper, when pushed far enough, was particularly frightening.
"Can we get on with this?" Bowser Jr. interrupted impatiently. "My fireworks will blow all of yours right out of the sky."
"Um… Y-Yeah, let's-a go!" Luigi quickly agreed as to appease the Koopa Prince.
"Okay everyone, here's what you need to do," Link began.
He and Luigi guided everyone into their provided kit. They had recommended that they would first draw out how they want their fireworks to end up as. With the overall design as the basic foundation, that would be the time to apply the actual physics in making the fireworks turn out how they wanted. It helped that both Link and Luigi had a particular proclivity for pyrotechnics from their adventures, Link from his bombs alone and Luigi regarding his various fiery power-ups.
The groups were our youth trio, the Kongs, the Star Fox pilots, Zelda alone, Pit and Palutena together, Olimar and his Pikmin, Shulk and Kirby, and finally Bowser Jr. alone. Of course, no one had suspected that Bowser Jr. was getting secret help from the Koopalings as part of his devious plan.
He had Ludwig and Iggy on standby in the shadows, waiting to tamper with the others' fireworks at every chance they get. Roy and Morton were on backup. And Wendy, Larry, and Lemmy helped in gathering special materials for Bowser Jr.'s fireworks.
A couple of hours had easily passed beyond everyone else's notice. All of the groups had placed the finishing touches on their customized fireworks and had been directed to a safe, open area away from the Smash Mansion and the ongoing festivities as to launch them when the time came.
"We came up with some awesome designs, didn't we?" Ness asked. "I can't wait to see these in action!"
"This definitely reminds me of home a lot," Villager commented.
"I just want to blow some things up," Toon Link simply confessed.
"Methinks the reincarnated kid Link is not too far off from the older generation," Ness whispered slyly to Villager.
"Might be a Hyrule Hero thing," Villager added with a shrug.
"Why do I get the feeling you guys are making fun of me?" Toon Link voiced.
"Now you know how I feel every time someone brings up me blowing up Alph's fruits," Ness replied.
"But I thought you didn't want to talk about it anymore," Toon Link responded.
"I don't!" Ness clarified heatedly.
"I think you guys are hungry," Villager intervened. "I know! Let's grab some yakisoba from Robin's stand. I think that should be enough."
"Yakisoba?" Ness repeated. "What's that? And what about the hot dogs and French fries? They're an Eagleland classic!"
"Eh, he might have those too," Villager assured with a bit of uncertainty.
"Villager does have a point, though," Toon Link concurred, starting to run back to the main festivities area. "I'm starving! Let's see what's still available. I hope I can snag another root beer bottle before older me does."
"I have a couple of unopened bottles left stored in my pockets," Villager offered as he and Ness went after the Hero of Winds.
"I want a fresh cold one!" Toon Link yelled back.
Though before Toon Link could get his desired drink and some food, Bowser Jr. dramatically jumped in his way, backed up by Roy Koopa and Morton Koopa Jr. Toon Link instinctively pulled out his sword and shield while Ness and Villager caught up to him and prepared for the confrontation.
"And just where do you children think you're going?" Bowser Jr. demanded haughtily.
"Not now, Jr.," Toon Link warned. "I want food and I want it now."
"And I want revenge against those pranks you three losers pulled on me weeks ago," Bowser Jr. retorted. "No one, and I mean no one, outpranks me! Got it?!"
"We get it," Ness spoke up in Toon Link's defense. "You're being a sore loser about it. Are you going to cry to daddy about it now?"
"Ness, isn't that a bit too much?" Villager asked, concerned, only to be waved down by the Koopa Prince.
"That's right, go ahead and laugh," Bowser Jr. egged on. "I'm not going to need Papa's help for this. I made this plot all by myself and I got these guys backing me up."
"You got this, Jr.," Roy cheered.
"They won't know what hit them when you're done with them," Morton guffawed.
"What are you going about now?" Ness inquired wearily.
"I was wondering when you slowpokes would ask," Bowser Jr. mocked, snapping his fingers.
From the signal, Ludwig and Iggy leapt out of their hiding places in the shadows and joined their Koopa brethren against Ness, Villager, and Toon Link. They were the only two out of them that were in their standard Koopa Clown Cars.
"A brilliant plot by Prince Jr. that surpasses even my own intellect," Ludwig began. "Let's just say that every time you fools looked away from making your firework designs, Iggy and I seized the opportunity to meddle in your affairs and change them."
"What did you do to them?" Villager asked, displaying a rare trait of anger.
"With my trickster black magic, I made it so that when the fireworks you slaved over for the past hours go up, instead of showing what you labored for, they'll instead shower the skies with King Bowser's greatness," Iggy explained, all the while cackling maniacally.
"How dare you!" Villager threatened, stepping in front of an astonished pair of Ness and Toon Link. "The fireworks design activity was for others to express what they wanted in the form of colorful fireworks. You had no right to take that way from any of us!"
"I can do whatever I want, and that's that," Bowser Jr. scoffed. "Like I'm going to take some kid in a glorified bathrobe seriously."
"That 'kid in the glorified bathrobe' happens to be my friend," Ness intervened, pulling out his bat with a dangerous look in his eyes as he joined Villager by his side.
"We're not letting you get away with this," Toon Link added, joining his two friends to help them in the foreseen battle.
"It's five-to-three," Roy pointed out.
"Think you can take on all of us?" Morton challenged.
"You probably should call in your remaining Koopalings for an even match of eight-to-three," Ness shot back, smirking.
"That's it!" Bowser Jr. fumed. "You asked for it!" He then turned to Ludwig and practically shouted the order in his ear. "Call in the others now!"
"Uh… A little problem, Jr. sir," Ludwig replied, poking into his ear that suffered from Bowser Jr.'s sonic scream. "Lemmy wandered off and so, Wendy and Larry are out looking for him."
"Graaahh!" Bowser Jr. screeched, stomping his foot and puffing out cinders of smoke from his mouth. "I'll deal with him later! Just take these three goody-goodies down!"
"Roger!" the four present Koopalings responded dutifully, engaging into action.
Ness and Toon Link took on Roy and Morton while Ludwig and Iggy chased after Villager, who was able to backflip pretty well despite wearing wooden geta. Having full access to their Koopa Clown Car capabilities, they tossed up a barrage of Bob-ombs in the air in an attempt to blast the young mayor into oblivion.
Determined to end this quickly, Villager easily caught two Bob-ombs and used his unique ability in throwing them back at twice the power. Ludwig and Iggy were not prepared for his sudden counterattack, and as such…
*Kaboom*
"Why are we blasting off?!" the both of them cried as they were sent flying into the stratosphere.
*Twinkle*
"What just happened?!" Bowser Jr. questioned.
"You shouldn't have made Villager mad," Ness taunted, pushing back Morton with his bat.
"You wouldn't like him when he's mad," Toon Link continued, bashing his shield into Roy's face, forcing him to back off as well.
All three of them were close together as Ness and Toon Link, soon joined by Villager, surrounded them. The three Koopas' worried expressions turned into smirks as Bowser Jr. revealed his last trick in the form of two Bob-ombs in his hands.
"Think fast, losers!" Bowser Jr. goaded, throwing his Bob-ombs while thinking he had the jump on them.
Underestimating their abilities ultimately proved to be his folly. Ness reacted in time to bat one back at them while Villager Pocketed and returned the other Bob-omb. To go with their counterstrike, Toon Link pulled out his own blue bomb and threw it in the mix.
"Not good," Morton whimpered.
"Not in the face," Roy cried, covering his face with his arms.
"My Papa will hear about this!" Bowser Jr. swore.
*KABOOM*
"This feels bad!" Bowser Jr., Roy, and Morton yelled as they were sent soaring high as Ludwig and Iggy before them were.
*Twinkle*
With their threat gone, the young heroes managed to take a breather before realizing that they needed to get Master Hand to fix the damages done to the other's fireworks. Luigi and Link came in and had revealed that they were prepared for the possibility that a villain like Bowser Jr. was probably going to sabotage the fireworks, so they had backups of the original fireworks prepared in that likely event.
The other firework participants came in and were thankful for Ness, Villager, and Toon Link in stopping Bowser Jr.'s evil plans. It didn't take a lot of time to get the desired firework designs back before their launch time. And when that time came, a lot of the creative designs were seen for all in the brilliant night sky above.
The Kongs had theirs take the form of their beloved banana hoard.
Fox and Falco were able to design their fireworks after their Arwings, including the special sparkling effects behind to imitate the G-force afterburners.
Zelda had created fireworks in the shape of the Hyrule royal crest and the Triforce… as well as a heart? Maybe she did get some 'special help' from Link after all…
Palutena and Pit were creative in theirs by making funny caricatures of their faces. The Goddess of Light also skillfully manipulated their designs to make it as though they were talking to each other before she and Pit gave them actual dialogue for the entertainment of the other fighters. Just like the good old times. Dark Pit wasn't interested until he saw one purple fireworks design that also said 'Pittoo' below it. He then went from indifferent to royally vexed at the two of them.
Olimar made floral and Pikmin designs for each of the known Pikmin. He originally knew five, but Alph had long ago revealed to him the existence of the Rock and Winged Pikmin. The red Pikmin design, in particular, used actual red Pikmin and they seemed to enjoy it as much as their viewers did.
Shulk didn't have a preference for his designs, so he made his and Kirby's into various food shapes like a curry plate, apple, and even a glass of lemonade.
Bowser Jr.'s firework, designed in his own image, was still kept as a show of good sport. It was certainly extra flashy from the materials gathered by Wendy, Larry, and Lemmy, to say the least.
Finally, the designs by Ness, Toon Link, and Villager went up to display. It first erupted into the shape of a red planet with continent outlines, resembling Ness's symbol. It was then followed by three smaller explosions from the top, left, and right, forming three forest green leaves that took on Villager's symbol. Lastly, a massive light green firework took place further beyond the present design, taking the form of various squiggling lines that resembled wind blowing.
"Zelda already had the Triforce design in hers, so of course I'm not going to copy her," Toon Link reasoned.
"You did awesome, mini me," Link applauded, patting his younger reincarnation on the head. "All of you did!"
Luigi then started the applause for the fabulous fireworks display, in which everyone else joined with him. Master Hand and Crazy Hand clapped with each other until they heard shouts of 'Encore!' In this case, they snapped their fingers and copies of the previously shown fireworks were instantly created and sent up in the air for a second viewing.
All in all, this night turned out well.
Except…
"I never got to eat or get my root beer!" Toon Link panicked, running off and ravaging the other booths for wanted sustenance.
"Should we stop him?" Villager asked.
"Let him do what he wants for tonight," Ness assured, waving his hands up in the air. "Woo! Let our freedom ring!"
I might have missed the actual day to post this, but at least I managed to get it done within the weekend. I hope you all had enjoyed the Fourth of July. And for those that don't celebrate it, I hope your weekend was awesome regardless.
Please review!
L-ater!