Samus: On behalf of the authoress, we wish to apologize for so many delays.
Captain Falcon: She has been writing, but for an entirely different purpose.
Samus: You see, there comes a point in every young girl's life...
Captain Falcon: ... when she has to start applying to college.
Samus: So there've been essays and resumes.
Captain Falcon: But she's got a break now, so we can resume our story!
Falco: Here, I'll handle this. The author claims no ownership of Nintendo, the Super Smash Brothers series, or any of its related characters or franchises.
-----------------------------------------------------
Chapter 15: A Very Strong Word
"Ness? Ness?" A faint voice called to the young boy in his sleep.
"Ness, wake up. It's me, Marth."
The prince gently shook the boy's shoulder, who replied by pulling the covers over his head with a groan.
"Ness!" the prince hissed.
"Awww, but Marth..." A head of toussled black hair emerged from underneath the sheets. He glanced over at his digital clock. "It's six thirty in the morning..."
"Get dressed," Marth ordered as he walked over to Ness's closet and pulled out a pair of denim shorts and a gray T-shirt. "We're going to the gym."
He yanked the covers off of Ness, who shot up in surprise.
"Geez!"
"Well, you weren't being very cooperative," Marth replied. He placed the clothes on the bed next to the younger boy. For the first time, Ness looked up to notice Marth was dressed in a blue sweatshirt with matching sweatpants.
"I'll step outside for a moment so you can change," the prince said, walking toward Ness's door. Quietly shutting the door behind him (so as not to wake Mario, Peach, and Jigglypuff), the prince leaned against the wall and yawned. He also wasn't used to waking up this early.
Helping Ness train was a pretty good idea. His first victory would be a great present. But I should get him something material as well, just so it won't feel so awkward when we exchange gifts. I wonder who got my name? I wonder who got Link's? I wonder what we're having for breakfast today...
His thoughts were cut off when he heard the door open and close again.
"Okay, I'm ready." Ness whispered.
Marth smiled and walked with him into the gym. Futuristic equipment foreign to Marth- dumbells, training bikes, treadmills, punching bags, and more- were placed around the room. There was another door at the end of the room which likely was for the indoor pool.
"I don't think we should go swimming when it's so cold outside," Marth remarked as he flipped the light switch on. "So we'll use the stuff in here. I'll need your help to figure out how this stuff works..."
"No problem, I'll start on the treadmill," Ness replied, leading Marth to the mentioned equipment. "It helps you train in running."
"Oh, good! Speed is one thing you need to work on... no offense." the prince blurted, then apologized.
Ness didn't reply, turning on the treadmill. With a low hum, the machine came to life. Marth watched in amazement as the belt on the treadmill slowly started to rotate.
"See? I have to walk to keep up. But it's really slow right now." Ness explained.
"There's arrow buttons on here," Marth commented. "Do those speed it up?"
"Yeah,"
"Okay," the prince replied, pressing the button several times. The belt picked up pace and Ness had to jog to keep up with it.
Marth spotted a blank digital readout listed as "Timer", with arrows next to it. He had a feeling he knew what those buttons were for. The prince pressed the up arrow several times, until the digital numbers read 10:00. The numbers slowly began to count down, second by second.
"All right, keep running for ten minutes." Marth ordered. "I'll be right back."
He watched Ness running, then turned to leave the gym. Marth walked outside quietly, heading down to the cafeteria. Ruby, Malon, and Diddy were already awake, helping prepare breakfast that morning.
"Up already?" Malon asked as the prince approached.
"Yes," Marth replied. "We've had training to do."
"We?" Malon asked.
"Ness and I," the prince clarified. "Can I get some water?"
Diddy passed two bottles of water to the Hyrulian girl, who handed them to Marth.
"Don't worry about getting too hot! All you have to do is walk outside!" Malon called out to the prince as he left the cafeteria.
Marth walked down the hallway and reentered the gym. Ness had done a good job of keeping up pace.
As the minutes passed, Ness began to perspire. The timer finally beeped and Ness slowed the treadmill down until it stopped completely, giving him a chance to catch his breath.
"Water... please..." the younger boy panted.
Marth handed him the bottle of water. He thirstily began to chug the contents, until Marth snatched it away.
"Hey!" Ness whined.
"You'll make yourself sick if you drink that fast! Besides, you'll want to save some for the rest of the workout. Take a few minutes to rest up, then we'll move on."
-----------------------------------------
After working on his muscle strength by doing basic muscle exercises, Ness and Marth headed to the cafeteria after finally cooling off. They took seats with the Ice Climbers, as though sitting with them would make them feel cooler... literally.
"Why didn't you guys get pancakes?" Nana asked, gesturing to her plate. Hers were topped with syrup, powdered sugar, and a halved strawberry.
Marth and Ness glanced down at their scrambled eggs and wheat toast. Marth had also gotten strawberries to eat, whereas Ness went for apple and orange slices.
"Just trying to eat healthy before the big holiday. There'll probably be a big meal," the prince replied with a cute smile.
"So..." Popo started, a mischievious grin on his face, "Who did you get for your Secret Santa?"
"Popo! We're not supposed to talk about that!" Nana scolded, shaking a mitten-clad finger at him.
"Well, Popo, since you asked..." Marth said, lowering his voice. He leaned across the table and gestured for Popo to lean over. He whispered in the younger boy's ear, "It's called SECRET Panda for a reason!"
Popo pulled away, laughing, leaving Marth confused.
"What?" the prince asked. "Secret Pandas are supposed to be kept secret, aren't they?"
Ness also started laughing, and Nana burst into a giggling fit.
"Marth, it's SANTA, not panda!" she corrected him as she caught her breath.
"Oh, okay. Whatever a Santa is..." Marth repeated. "...Whatever a Santa is, Popo, you probably shouldn't talk about secrets."
"Okay, okay." Popo replied, silent laughter still shaking him.
------------------------------------------------------------
After breakfast, Marth and Ness went for a casual walk around the grounds, even passing by the ocean where they had spoken the day before.
"There's an awful lot of forest behind the buildings," Ness observed.
"Hmmm... yes, there is," Marth agreed. "Any reason why you brought that up?"
"Well... are we on the edge of a continent, or on an island?"
Marth thought this over for a moment, then replied, "... I honestly have no idea."
"Exactly," Ness continued. "We don't know how deep that forest goes. And where the forest ends, what will we find? Are there more people here? Another shore line? Cities? Mountains?"
"We really have no idea where we are, do we?" Marth asked.
Ness shook his head.
"No, we don't." He glanced up at Marth, who appeared worried. Ness grinned apologetically and waved a hand around casually. "But, I mean, it's probably nothing to be worried about! Master and Crazy know what this place is like, so that's really all that matters. We shouldn't be getting paranoid like Captain Falcon."
"He's too smart and brave to be paranoid... maybe there is something to fear here...."
"Whether there is or not, we've been fine. I really don't think there's anything here to be afraid about. We're just playing a game to have fun so they can take stats on us."
"Umm... 'stats'?"
"Notes," Ness explained as simple as possible. "Probably like time, and how hard a person hits, and..."
The younger boy frowned down at the snow. "... how much a person wins and loses."
"Don't worry," Marth reassured, "You'll win your first fight soon, I know it!"
Ness smiled up at the prince, then they continued walking.
--------------------------------------------------
After eating healthy lunches, Marth brought Ness to one of the training rooms for practice fighting. For Ness's convenience, he selected Onett as their destination. They stood atop the tree by the leftmost house.
"Now, I don't know your PSI powers work, so I'm afraid I can't tell you any new moves or how to control them. Just... show me your moves."
Ness nodded, and stepped in front of Marth. He took a deep breath to brace himself.
"PK FLASH!" the younger boy cried, clenching his fists. A green flash of energy generated from the boy floated very slowly overhead as he directed its motion to the awnings over the drugstore. Upon release, it created a massive, bright explosion.
"Incredible!" Marth marveled, having to shield his eyes. "This would be great to use in a fight! Now then, can you use it any faster?"
Again, Ness repeated the technique with a familiar shout. After the explosion, he turned to Marth and replied, "Nope. That's as fast as I can go."
"I don't know how you could train to use that attack faster, but I advise you to try and train that way. An attack like that might almost be as strong as a Falcon Punch... but it's much slower... I'd suggest you save that PK Flash for slow enemies, or when they're stunned or frozen somehow."
"Okay, if I'm going to use my next technique, I need a target."
"Well... I'm pretty sure training doesn't hurt... just like fighting. You can try it on me!"
"I dunno, Marth... you could get burned pretty badly..."
The prince unsheathed Falchion and slid the sharp edge of the blade against his fingers. He pressed against them to feel for any evidence of a cut or bleeding or pain.
"... Nope! I'm perfectly fine. Show me the next technique."
Ness drew his hands back, then swung them down in front of him, releasing a small burst of energy.
"PK FIRE!" he shouted.
Upon making contact with Marth's leg, the little blast of energy erupted into a large column of flames. Marth was caught in the attack and couldn't escape until the flames died down.
"That attack probably wouldn't be very powerful," Marth admitted, "but it might be a good way to trap someone and slow them down."
Now that the prince was a good distance away, Ness attempted his next technique. Placing two fingers against each of his temples, Ness squatted down, as though bracing for impact.
"PK THUNDER!" he shouted, as a ball of electricity with a stream tail was generated. It followed a jagged path until it finally died out, just short of hitting Marth.
"I don't know about that one either," Marth sighed. "It can't reach very far and doesn't do a lot of damage. But I've seen you use it to try and hit yourself when you're in the air... jump up and try using it on yourself!"
Ness jumped up and attempted the attack, only to have it fly out underneath his feet.
"Missed," the younger boy muttered.
"That's okay, try again! Focus!"
Ness jumped back up and repeated the technique with similar results.
"Just try it one more time. Remember, concentrate! Focus!"
Ness sighed and jumped up again, trying to empty his mind of losing, embarrassment... and focused on using the technique, and how he would use it to defeat someone in battle.
"PK THUNDER!" the orb followed a fairly circular path, following underneath Ness and striking him in the feet to create an upward thrust. "WHOOOAA!"
His body spun around until slowing down as he reached the height of the extra 'jump'. He slowly floated back down the ground, landing neatly on his feet.
"Nice job!" Marth congratulated. "I know it might be harder to concentrate when you actually fight someone, but keep practicing and maybe it'll be like an instinct for you."
"And that's really all the PK I know... I do know PK Magnet, but that acts as more of a shield against bullets, fire, and other stuff."
"All right... now we'll work on some of your more physical attacks."
Ness practiced using his kicks and punches while Marth blocked them as best as he could. He even attacked Marth with the baseball bat in his backpack, as well as his baseball glove. Marth also had Ness try attacking from the air... he was pretty good, but there was one attack Ness had some trouble with. He would stomp his foot down at an enemy from mid-air, but since Ness wasn't familiar with having to stomp his foot into the air, it was a little slower. Nevertheless, Marth told Ness to continue practicing the move, telling him that it still appeared pretty powerful.
After taking a few minutes to catch their breath, he also had Ness practice his grab and throw techniques. Although the boy mainly relied on PSI power for lifting his opponent, some physical strength went into it as well.
"Huh... you're really light for a teenager," Ness commented as Marth stood up after being tossed several feet forward.
The prince grinned at the comment, perhaps a bit awkwardly, then praised Ness for the fighting they had done. "Very good! You need just a little more work, but I know you'll be ready to win the next time you fight! And I know these things, trust me!"
----------------------------------------------------------
After a hearty yet healthy meal, Ness and Marth both got a good night's sleep. The next two days, they continued to train together, but on a lighter scale. They both would go for a walk or a jog around the grounds right before a meal, and sometimes they even got a little bit of company. Link, Nana, and Mario were the most frequent ones to join them.
On the third day, Marth went to greet Ness in his room...
... But the young boy wasn't there.
Marth went to check the cafeteria next, then the training rooms, the bathing rooms, even the Ice Climbers' room and Pikachu's room... and there was no sign of the younger boy.
Marth was starting to get really concerned now. He returned to his room to pull on a jacket, then ran outside to look for his friend. The prince considered checking the battle tower, where all the matches were held. Perhaps Ness was training in there?
He opened the door, and went inside. Sure enough, there was a small crowd of his friends inside, as well as Master and Crazy.
Ness was standing in the middle of the room, looking disappointed. Jigglypuff was also with him, apparently trying to apologize.
"Jig, jigglypuff. Puff ig jig jigglypuff jig puff. Iggly Puff jig ig puff ig igglypuff jigglypuff jigpuff." (Ness, I'm sorry. I fought you as best as I could. Maybe I should have been a little bit easier on you...)
"Well... since matches weren't supposed to resume until the holidays were over, we won't include this in your record," Master said.
"Yeah, you have enough losses as it is..." Crazy blurted. "Oops! Was that out loud?"
Link glared at him, then turned to Ness with a reassuring look on his face.
"It's all right, Ness. You almost beat her! ... Jigglypuff just grabbed the Bob-Omb before you could..."
Ness didn't reply; he was too embarrassed, too ashamed to reply. He glanced over and noticed Marth standing in the doorway... and felt a new emotion fill him. Anger.
"You said you 'know' these things." he said to the prince, who appeared confused. "Well, you don't! I just lost! Again!"
"But Ness-"
"The training didn't work!"
"No, it will. You just haven't been trained enough. I wasn't expecting to finish training you until the holidays ended, or whenever you won your first fight."
Ness pulled his jacket on and brushed past the prince angrily. Marth was about to follow the boy, try to reassure him, but was stopped when the boy spoke in a low voice so only Marth could hear him.
"I hate you."
Ness slammed the door behind him and stormed outside.
Everyone stood there in silence, amazed at how upset the young boy was.
"So, umm..." Crazy started, trying to break the awkward silence. "Anyone want some hot chocolate?"
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ness refused to leave his room the rest of the day; Malon ended up having to deliver his meals there so he would eat. Other than that, he refused to let anyone enter his room.
After dinner, the four fighters on the third floor had met together in a room to hang out, this time in Marth's room.
"I can't believe this happened..." Marth commented with a sigh.
"Don't take it so hard. I don't think Ness really meant to say... that," Link tried to reassure.
"No... I know he didn't mean to say it. I'm just surprised that Ness thought he'd be ready by now... and how angry it made him to lose."
"Well-a, the kid's pretty frustrated," Luigi pointed out. "I mean, I'm-a pretty new here, but I've-a got a better record than him-a already..."
"Exactly, he just got frustrated." Captain Falcon agreed. "Marth, you're reading into this too much. Ness is a good kid. Tomorrow, he'll apologize and be ready to practice some more before he tries fighting again."
"You really think so?" the prince asked, glancing up at the bounty hunter.
"It makes-a sense to me," Luigi replied.
"They're right, Marth," Link stated with a smile. "Tomorrow morning, everything will be back to normal."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
The next morning, Marth and Link walked down to the cafeteria for breakfast. Ness hadn't come up to Marth's room to apologize... but Link assured Marth he might be eating breakfast now, and then they could make up.
Marth and Link took their usual seats with Samus and Captain Falcon. Today, scrambled eggs and bacon was on the menu.
"Have either of you seen Ness today?" Marth asked. "I don't think he's in here..."
"He might still be in his room, sulking about yesterday." Samus responded
Before Link or Captain Falcon could add their input, Master came forward to the front of the room.
"Good morning, fighters," he greeted them.
Something was different today.
Master was speaking in a very dull tone, and he had a very serious look on his face. Even Crazy appeared displeased by... something.
"I have two very important pieces of news to share with you."
"What's going on?" Marth whispered to Link.
"The first... there is a blizzard headed our way, expected to hit this afternoon. All fighters will be required to remain in the Suites at that time, in a lock-down, due to the risks."
"... What's the second?" someone asked within the audience.
Master shook his head.
"The second... is that Ness apparently ran away last night..."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Samus: Uh-oh. Ness could get trapped out there in the blizzard!
Captain Falcon: We'll just have to find the kid before the snowstorm hits.
Samus: So, college applications and essays are done! The author got into UCF, and is waiting to hear back from UF.
Captain Falcon: She's also been working really hard on another fanfic, titled "The Falsebound Kingdom".
Samus: Yes, I remember reading that in Chapter 8. Pretty good story...
Captain Falcon: On behalf of the author, we apologize again for the delays in publishing this chapter. We would greatly appreciate reviews or comments, even if we don't deserve them for making you wait.