Swordplay
Captain Falcon: Welcome back to Swordplay everyone! We are finally about to kick off a major story arc!
Samus: Well, I don't know about MAJOR...
Captain Falcon: Anyway, thanks everyone for being so patient. Summer is a time to relax... but at the same time, it's been very busy for all of us!
Samus: Because some people have summer homework sometimes or take classes online...
Captain Falcon: We've also been a bit distracted thanks to Avatar and what not.
Samus: But it finally ended! I was disappointed, though... I wanted it to end with Zutara.
Captain Falcon: Yeah, same here.
Samus: Oh well. Guest speaker, do your stuff!
Kirby: Poyo! Bijoukaiba doesn't own Nintendo, Super Smash Brothers Melee, or any of its characters and their related franchises.
Captain Falcon and Samus: That's it for now! See you next time!
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Chapter 14: Gifted
"GAME! This game's winner is... Luigi!"
Luigi and Ness stepped out of the elevator. More appropriately, Luigi stepped out; Ness stormed out.
For the past few weeks, Ness had still been unsuccessful in his matches. He lost to Roy. He lost to Samus, again. He lost to Kirby, again. He lost to the Ice Climbers (Popo had fought him at his best, but Nana had held back a bit). He lost to all of his opponents. The fact that all the fighters were forced to fight now hadn't been much help to him either, although three days of Event Matches, two Classic Mode days, and an Adventure Mode day had provided some cushion. Nevertheless, he now stood with the worst record in the Suites, at 0-15. The only other fighter performing nearly as poorly was Jigglypuff, at 3-12. She had continued to fall asleep during her matches. Everyone kept suggesting to her to quit snoozing, but she kept trying to explain it was part of her fighting technique.
"I feel bad for Ness," Zelda commented at dinner that night to her new boyfriend. "I wish there was something we could do."
"There's nothing we can do," Fox replied. "It all depends on what he can do. Remember? He doesn't want us to go easy on him."
"You have to admire him, though," Marth stated. "He still has the pride to want to win a fight fair and square."
"If that's the case, he might never win." Donkey Kong muttered. "I think he should just swallow his pride and let one of us lose on purpose to him."
"I really want to do something to help him..." Marth sighed.
Master stepped up to the stage, adjusted the microphone and began his usual nightly announcements.
"Well, tomorrow is Friday, so we're close to finishing up the matches for this week." Master announced. "On that note, tomorrow's matches are..."
Icicle Mountain: 10:00 a.m.
Bowser vs. Zelda
Princess Peach's Castle: 10:45 a.m.
Roy vs. Falco
Poke'mon Stadium: 11:30 a.m.
Kirby vs. Jigglypuff
Termina: 1:30 p.m.
Fox vs. Yoshi
Yoshi's Island: 2:00 p.m.
Samus vs. Peach
Mute City: 2:30 p.m.
Pikachu vs. Mario
Yoshi's Story: 3:00 p.m.
Link vs. Captain Falcon
Corneria: 3:30 p.m.
Dr. Mario vs. Donkey Kong
Green Greens: 4:00 p.m.
Luigi vs. Ice Climbers
Rainbow Cruise: 4:30 p.m.
Marth vs. Ness
"Oh dear..." Marth sighed, glancing at Ness. The younger boy glanced at Marth briefly, then turned away. This was the first time they would be matched against each other.
"Oh dear..." Kirby sighed, over on the other side of the room.
"I know you're concerned about fighting Jigglypuff, but if you two are truly friends, everything will turn out okay, no matter who wins." Link reassured. He looked out at Marth on the other side of the room and smiled. "Trust me, I know."
--
"You are not going to surrender."
"... But Ness-"
"You're-a not!"
"... but..."
"Marth..."
The prince looked away from Link, staring at his hands folded neatly in his lap. Just like in a college dorm setting, the four residents of the third floor had bonded thanks to their close quarters. Link, Captain Falcon, Luigi, and Marth sometimes stayed briefly together in one of their rooms to chat or enjoy dessert before heading to their own rooms for bed. Tonight they found themselves in Marth's room, discussing their matches for tomorrow.
Link lifted a mug of warm Lon-Lon milk to his lips, wiped his mouth, and set it down again. "Zelda told me about what happened at dinner tonight, and we've all heard Ness himself say he doesn't want anyone going easy on him. So I don't think he wants anyone surrendering on him either."
"We're all concerned about him. We're all friends with the kid," Captain Falcon stated. "Well, everyone except Bowser. But as his friends, we have to respect his wishes... and that means you're going to fight him with the strength and skill that you would use when fighting me."
"Or me." Link added.
"Or-a me," Luigi put in.
Marth finally glanced back up at them.
"... okay."
--
Warm omelettes were prepared for breakfast the next morning. There was nothing major to note, except Master and Crazy were overheard arguing about decorations and shopping.
Soon after, the fighters found themselves bundled up and walking out to the battle building.
Bowser, as a cold-blooded reptile, had been finding it difficult to deal with the cold weather, even in the simulated world of the Ice Climbers. He kept using his fire-breathing ability against Zelda as an attempt to help him stay warm and alert, but Hyrule's beloved princess still managed to outdo him thanks to some help from the Poke'mon known as Articuno and a Bob-Omb.
At Princess Peach's Castle, Roy and Falco made use of the items that popped up from the colored blocks that appeared and disappeared whenever a switch was activated. Falco had gone for more of the futuristic items, such as a Super Scope, a Ray Gun, and a motion-sensor bomb. Roy grabbed the items he was more familiar with- a fan, a beam sword, and... a hammer. It was a fun little game of cat-and-mouse for Roy as he chased Falco off, slamming him with the hammer twice, before Falco finally escaped safely to the other side of the castle where Roy couldn't reach him... but where a giant Bullet Bill could. The explosion threw Falco off the side of the arena, giving Roy the victory.
Now came Kirby and Jigglypuff's match. They landed in the Poke'mon Stadium, where Jigglypuff would have a 'home-field advantage'. Kirby was cautious to directly attack her, but he didn't want to leave her feeling insulted, so he fought her with Poke'balls- he had a Marill, a Goldeen, and a Venusaur come to his aid (although Goldeen hadn't really been much help). Jigglypuff went more after physical fighting, slapping and pounding Kirby out of his wits. She also got hold of a Poke'ball- this one contained Togepi. Metronome allowed it to use an explosive attack that threw Kirby into the sky.
For lunch, Ruby had prepared warm slices of pizza. Jigglypuff was a little frustrated at Kirby, thinking he had gone easy on her, but she let him sit with her anyway. Master stepped up to make an announcement, something he rarely did at lunch.
"Oh, great. What's it this time?" Bowser asked.
Master frowned. "We were cleaning last night and forgot to switch the powdered soap with Parmesan cheese."
Several fighters clutched their throats in disgust, some of them went to throw their pizza away, and Roy and Popo tried gargling water to see if they could blow bubbles out of their mouths.
"I'm kidding." Master groaned. "I just wanted to let you all know there is an important meeting tonight, so I expect everyone to show up."
Bowser appeared ready to complain, but Crazy silenced him. "Don't worry, this will be a fuuuuun meeting! You'll see! You'll all see!"
--
Fox and Yoshi's match followed after lunch. Set in Termina, they had the elements of water and the island-turtle to use to their advantage... or their disadvantage. Yoshi landed on the lower platform and started tossing eggs at Fox.
"He always uses egg weaponry," Marth commented to Captain Falcon. "Do you think Yoshi can use anything else as weapons?"
"... I don't know, I think eggs are his natural weapon. Why?"
"Oh, I don't know. I just thought it would be fun to see Yoshi roll up into a big rock sometime... or maybe when he swallows someone, they would be trapped inside a fruit like a peach... and maybe instead of throwing his eggs, he could toss his cookies! What's wrong?"
Marth stared in confusion at Captain Falcon, who was shaking in silent laughter.
"Wah!"
A flash of light coming from underwater indicated that Yoshi had sunk too far and therefore lost the match.
Less than a half-hour later, Samus and Peach found themselves pitted in fierce combat on Yoshi's Island. Hits were evenly traded and each female fighter threw in dodges and blocks from each other's hits as well. Samus used a motion sensor bomb to finish off the princess of the Mushroom Kingdom by tossing it on top of a platform and using a high, arched kick that sent Peach flying backwards against it.
Pikachu really seemed to have an advantage over Mario on the short platform while fighting in Mute City. Pikachu could use its more powerful attacks within closer range, and even when the plumber occasionally punched or kicked the Poke'mon off, it could use its decent recovery techniques to return to fighting without much risk. However, Mario would come out victorious after Pikachu's recovery fell short at one point on the track, causing it to get tumbled up among the F-Zero cars. The infamous Black Bull smashed Pikachu powerfully and sent it falling off the side of the screen, giving Mario victory. How ironic that so long ago Pikachu had defeated Mario thanks to the help from a futuristic jet; now Mario had defeated Pikachu thanks to the help of futuristic racecars.
On Yoshi's Story, Captain Falcon used speed and his raw strength to his advantage to defeat Link. He used a low kick to start spinning the blocks that would flatten into paper-like strips when hit hard enough. Link ran towards Captain Falcon, but was careful to jump above the newly created pit, when Captain Falcon caught him- he leapt higher than Link and roughly planted his feet into Link's shoulders with a spiking kick. Link was thrown down heavily by the impact; he had officially lost the match before he could even think about attempting to recover.
Donkey Kong defeated Dr. Mario by grabbing him and tossing him off the nose of the ship, then playing 'edge guard' until the doctor was finally too far away to recover from the hits and grab onto the nose of the plane.
At Green Greens, Luigi defeated the Ice Climbers by cleverly separating them thanks to some help from the animated tree that blew powerful gusts across the stage from time to time. He fought them conservatively until Nana was pushed backwards by the strong breeze. Luigi leapt forward and kicked her with both feet, then grabbed her ankles, spun around to build momentum, and threw her off the right side of the arena. She was unable to recover on her own, leaving Popo to do the fighting. Luigi merely repeated the technique he applied against Nana to vanquish Popo in their match as well.
"GAME!" Master declared. "This game's winner is... LUIGI!"
The younger plumber waved his fists around in the air before bending over with his hands on his knees to catch his breath as a victory pose.
"Very well... then the last match of the day will be Marth against Ness... then we're done for the day until dinner, when we have our meeting..." Crazy announced. He clapped his hands together rapidly in joy and excitement. "... OOOOOOHHHH!! I CAN'T WAIT!!"
I can. Marth thought to himself, glancing at Ness.
--
Unfortunately for Marth, four-thirty finally reared its ugly head.
He and Ness stepped into the elevator, awaiting their match to begin. Ness in anticipation, Marth in dread.
Marth shut his eyes as the arena virtualized around them. Despite the bright, warm surroundings of the clear blue sky and multi-colored platforms and ship, a dark, cold hand was clenched on Marth's heart. He stared down at his shoes, at the wooden floor of the ship's deck. How could such a simple match be so difficult for him? He hadn't even heard Master announce the match had begun, and was rudely awaken from his trance by a baseball bat swinging against his head.
Marth stumbled backwards, shaking off the shock of the blow, then stared up at Ness.
"C'mon, Marth!" Ness taunted. "If you're not going to fight me, that's the last hit I'm going to use against you!"
Marth shook his head with a sigh and drew out Falchion from the sheath at his hip. He still has the pride to want to win a fight fair and square.
Marth dashed forward and swept his blade against Ness's trunk, knocking the boy backwards and slightly up. Marth quickly pulled his blade backwards and smashed it down upon Ness in a sweeping combo.
"PK Fire!" Ness shouted, hurling his arms forward in mid-air. A spark of orange energy flew forward, and when it struck Marth, a small spout of flames engulfed his body.
Marth quickly dodged backwards as Ness also made his landing on the upper deck of the ship. He clenched his fists and shouted, "PK Flash!"
The young boy concentrated a field of green energy around his body and as a large, floating spark. The spark began to drift towards Marth from the air. The prince quickly dashed underneath it to strike Ness, who was left completely vulnerable while charging. He performed a quick, three-part Dancing Blade combo, before slamming his blade down on Ness's shoulder in a graceful yet powerful sweep. The hit knocked him off of the back of the ship.
"PK Thunder!" Ness shouted in mid-air. He held two fingers to his temples, channeling a small ball of electricity from his mind. It followed a curvy trajectory, and Ness seemed to have poor control over the path it took. It finally made a full circle, and Marth understood that it was Ness's way of recovering. Unfortunately, his recovery backfired and flew underneath his feet and up directly in front of him, rather than striking him from behind. Ness floated down into the depths of the arena into the out-of-bounds (and therefore, the losing) region just as the Rainbow Cruise docked at a platform.
"Game. This game's winner is Marth," Master announced, clearly bored with the results. "Now then! I will see all of you at dinner."
After exitting the elevator, Marth noticed that Ness didn't seem nearly as upset as he had the past few weeks, but he still would not face the prince.
"Hey, Marth?" the boy asked, "Can I speak to you alone?"
--
The snow crunched underneath Marth's boots and Ness's shoes as they exitted the battle room. Everyone else had re-entered the mansion where the rooms were, where the temperature was obviously warmer and Ruby would have hot chocolate waiting. The two of them marched through the snow towards the ocean. Marth wasn't sure what to say, but luckily Ness started out the conversation.
"There's something special about you, Marth. I just can't put my finger on what... but there's just something."
Marth looked down at the younger boy, confused. "... What do you mean?"
"You mean you don't notice the way Master and Crazy treat you? They have little- if any- respect for you at all. Of course, they're not so fond of Captain Falcon or Bowser either... but that's because Captain Falcon's paranoid about them and Bowser's just a jerk."
A small smile tugged at the sides of Marth's lips when Ness made the 'jerk' comment about Bowser.
"... But you've shown no suspicion about them and you're one of the most polite people here. So why do they hate you anyway?"
Marth shook his head, silent. Both of them stood at the line where the sand met the snow.
"That's not all," Ness commented. "... I know we should have told you this a while ago... but..."
Ness fidgeted with his jacket, trying to straighten it, as a sign of nervousness.
"... but... you didn't come out of one of those gray rooms like Roy and Jigglypuff did. Zelda and I found you on the beach, soaking wet, like you had been in the ocean."
Marth ran his fingers through his hair with a sigh, and then rested his forehead in his palms.
"Why? Why don't I remember?" He asked. "When I saw the Fountain of Dreams, it looked familiar. When I was introduced to Link, I thought I had heard his name before." Marth shook his head, his voice starting to tremble. "I've been through so much but I can't remember any of it!"
"Marth..." Ness said his name with reassurance in his voice. "I don't know what memories you've lost, or how many of them are gone... but your friends will do what they can to help you! Link, Captain Falcon, Samus, Zelda... and me. We'll find a way to get your memories back."
"Will you share one of your memories with me?" Marth asked, sounding much calmer now.
"Okay," Ness replied, grinning. "There was this one night when I woke up after hearing this loud explosion. I went out in my pajamas and met with my neighbors, Pokey and Picky. We all went out and found this big meteor up on the hill behind my house. A bee named Buzz Buzz came out and asked us to help assist in a quest to save the world- my world at least. Pokey said no and Picky was too young... but I agreed."
Ness continued to relate his story- describing how he met his friends Jeff, Paula, and Poo; talking about the silly times in the Saturn Valley; describing a wacky photographer who seemed to come out of nowhere and tell them to say "Fuzzy pickles!"; and finally the battles against Pokey and Giygas to save the world.
"I was gifted with the power to save my world," Ness commented, gazing down at his hands. "So why can't I try to win a single fight here?"
"You keep telling yourself to try," Marth replied. "Maybe it's time to tell yourself to do."
"Maybe you're right..." Ness said softly.
The two stood there silently. Marth gazed up at the wilted weeping willow tree further down the beach, dying from the cold. Ness gazed down at the ground.
"So... 'fuzzy pickles', huh?" Marth asked with a small chuckle.
"Guys! Guys!" Popo and Nana shouted, running over. "Come inside, you must be cold! Plus dinner's a few minutes away, and that means the surprise that Crazy promised is coming!"
Marth and Ness exchanged a smile, then ran off after the Ice Climbers.
--
After the warm chicken and mashed potatoes were consumed, Master and Crazy came forward to make their announcement. Crazy had his hands stuffed into his pockets, which appeared to be bulging full of... something.
"All right, as you all know it's winter." Master declared.
"No, duh," said a voice among the fighters. It wasn't hard to figure out who.
"Now, several of you come from different religions so I guess we won't call it... 'Christmas' per se, but I think it would still be nice to have a holiday."
For those who understood what 'Christmas' meant, excited chatter began to spread through the room. Master held up his gloved hand as a request for silence.
"So, we will have a little gift exchange a week from today. Crazy and I have assembled several catalogs for you to order presents from, so you'll have a week to decide on what to get. There are some craft kits and things like that in a few of these catalogs if you wanted to make a present for someone rather than buy something."
Crazy ran off the stage for a moment to speak with Diddy. He quickly returned carrying Diddy's baseball cap in one hand. He took his other hand and reached into his pocket, then pulled out handfuls of the 'things' and shuffled them in the cap. It was clear now that they were slips of paper.
"All right, everyone will come up and pull out a slip of paper. Each piece has a name on it," Crazy held up a slip that had his name on it. "Try to get this slip, okay? Anyway, the person's name on the slip is the name of the person you have to get a gift for! But don't tell anyone who you got! If you draw your own name, just tell me and you can draw again. I'll shuffle these up one more time, and then I'll call you up to pick your receiver. How 'bout you go first, Diddy? It's your hat."
Diddy went up to the stage and pulled out a name, blinked at it in surprise, then curled his tail around the paper and ambled back to the bar to sit with Malon.
"Eenie, meenie, minie... Bowser! You pick next!" Crazy declared. The koopa king grumbled, walked up and pulled out a name, stared at it and laughed, then crumbled the paper into a ball in his hand as he returned to his seat.
"Ruuuuby! Come on, we can't forget you! Come pick a name!"
The sweet chef walked up and drew a name, tucked it into the pocket of her apron, and returned to the kitchen.
Spike was selected next, followed by Peach.
"Hmmm... wait! I can't forget myself!" Crazy pulled out a piece of paper, read it, and shoved it in his pocket.
"Okay, Joy, your turn!"
After the nurse pulled a name, Yoshi was called up, then Malon. She giggled at the name she drew and pranced back to the bar.
Pikachu was called, then Falco. He scratched his head in awkward surprise at the name he drew.
Mario stepped up to draw a name, and smiled at the slip he pulled out. Dr. Mario stepped up next, and shrugged at the name he drew. Kirby was called up after that.
"Captain Falcon, your turn!"
The bounty hunter drew out a name, then glanced up at the fighters awaiting their turn. His eyes scanned the room until he found the table where Marth, Jigglypuff, Mario, and Samus were sitting. A grin flashed over his face.
"Oh, wow..." Samus muttered sarcastically, noticing that he was looking over at her. "I wonder whose name he drew." Marth laughed with her, though, as Popo went up to draw a name. Fox went up next, and his girlfriend soon followed. Ness went up next, and groaned at the name he drew.
"It had to be Bowser," Marth said with a sigh.
Master took over calling out the names, calling for Luigi first. Jigglypuff was next, and appeared tickled pink (even though she was already pink) at the name she drew. Roy was next, and he blushed at the name he drew. Nana went next, and shook her head and laughed at the name she drew.
Alice was puzzled by the name she drew, yet she also appeared slightly disappointed. Samus went after her and chuckled at the name she drew.
"Link, your turn." Master announced. Link stepped forward and drew out the name, but didn't peek at it until he sat down.
MA
Well, that's interesting... Link was intrigued, but shook the idea from his head. No, it couldn't be. It was probably just Master or Malon.
MAR
Link's heart sped up. Maybe he had gotten lucky! A smile flashed on his face. Excited, he opened the paper completely.
MARIO
Link sighed, but smiled anyway. At least he was good friends with Mario as well.
Donkey Kong was called up next. He pulled out the name and sat back down.
"And finally, Marth." The prince stepped up to the stage and removed the last name from the hat, then walked back to his table and sat down.
"Well, this has been fun. Did everyone like who they got? If not... too bad! Someone has to give that person a present, and it has to be you. And to help you decide on the gift to get, there will be no matches next week." Master nodded and stepped away from the microphone with his brother.
"Crazy, wait! Give me back my hat!" Diddy shouted. Crazy flung it across the room like a frisbee, and Diddy caught it by leaping up and grabbing it with one hand.
Marth opened his slip and blinked in surprise. It was so convenient. He knew exactly what to do, what to get this person. Things couldn't have worked out better for the prince.
NESS
--
Captain Falcon: And thus concludes one of our shortest chapters ever.
Samus: We apologize for the delay, as does the authoress.
Captain Falcon: Avatar, summer homework and classes, plus a new fanfiction have caused some delays.
Samus: Yeah, I've read it before. "The Falsebound Kingdom"! I started reading it back in Chapter 8. It's not bad, there's a lot of foreshadowing and symbolism... it's quite exciting.
Captain Falcon: I noticed there was some foreshadowing in this chapter too.
Samus: Hmm, really? I'll have to go back and look for that.
Kirby: Poyo! Thanks for reading!