A/N: Thanks for being patient with me again. The internship at the paper is finally done, and it's winter break, so I can finally focus on this story a bit more. I'm in serious mourning after today's Wild Card play-off games in the NFL, so I wanted to do something to cheer myself up. Sigh.
Chapter 5: A Pokemon of few words
Peach trembled slightly as she walked out of the Smash locker room and into the sunlight. Never before had she been on a reconnaissance mission. In fact, she had never been on any kind of mission; she was always the damsel, never the hero.
She knew the other two did a poor job of masking their doubt in her. Samus and Zelda were both strong women who could hold their own, but hadn't Peach proven time and time again in battle that she was also a force to be reckoned with?
However, despite her usual level of competition, her match with Meta Knight had been short yet brutal. He diminished all three of her stock-lives in five minutes. Peach evoked a small feeling of comfort by telling herself that she went slightly easier on Meta Knight in order to soften him up for later.
She dabbed her still-perspiring brow with a handkerchief and searched the stadium grounds for Meta Knight. She finally saw him gliding towards the entrance of the Smash mansion. Peach panicked.
"Hey there!" she yelled, realizing too late that she didn't have any sort of plan. No hero to save her now.
He turned slowly. Waited.
"Erm - good job today. Very nice work," she managed. "You were...hard to fight...and wow...that cape thingy...where you disappear and reappear?...with the cape?"
"Dimensional Cape," he growled and headed back towards the mansion.
"Wait!" Peach yelled, knowing that she would never hear the end of it from Samus if she failed. She ran towards the small, dark figure.
"Yes?" Meta Knight asked, yellow eyes glaring.
"I - um - oh!" Peach suddenly became aware of the handkerchief she was still holding. Suddenly, the proverbial light bulb switched on. "I have something for you!"
She thrust the handkerchief at Meta Knight, who jerked back in shock and stared at the heart-embroidered pink cloth.
"Yes, I found it in the locker room after the match," Peach continued, building momentum. "A note was on it that said, 'Please give to Meta Knight.' And it was signed with a heart. Isn't that sweet?"
Meta Knight was quiet for a moment, but his mask barred any discernable body language.
"Where is this note?" he finally asked.
"I - uh - oh Toadstools! I must have accidentally thrown it away with my bottle of water!" Peach giggled nervously.
"If this was meant for me, why was it left in your possession?" he grumbled.
"This token is obviously from a lady admirer! A lady would never venture into the men's locker room," Peach gasped, blushing and feigning embarrassment. "She obviously entrusted it to me."
Silence.
"Sooo," Peach said, smiling sweetly and wagging the handkerchief at him. "Any idea who this could be from?"
"No."
With that he swung open the entrance to the Smash mansion and slammed the door. Peach sighed. Why did she volunteer to question Meta Knight? Hopefully, Peach and Samus had a more successful time interrogating Jigglypuff during the matches.
..................
One Hour Earlier
The arena was packed full of Smashers and the public alike. Although Smash matches were popular, they typically drew only half as many attendees. This day was special, though. It was the last set of battles to determine which seeds each Smasher landed in the end-of-the-year tournament bracket. While most of the spots had been filled, the toss-up Snake/King Dedede battle promised to be a nail-biter.
"We're never going to find Jigglypuff," Samus muttered. "She's a foot tall."
After 15 minutes of scouring the crowd and getting mobbed by adoring fans, Samus and Zelda finally spotted the pink creature 20 rows up. Lucas and Ness were sitting on either side of her.
"Move, boys," Samus said once she reached the seats. "We have work to do."
"You can't make us!" Ness said, hands on hips.
"Wanna bet?" Samus said, making a show of charging her blaster. Lucas' eyes widened.
"Master Hand said we can't use our attacks outside of training or matches!" Ness squeaked.
Samus dramatically looked around the stadium, "I don't see Master Hand here yet. Do you?"
The boys shrunk back in their seats.
"Listen, Ness? Lucas?" Zelda interjected before things got out of hand. "We have to talk to Jigglypuff about something very, very important, okay? Do you mind if we sit here for a while?"
"Okay, Princess!" Ness blushed. "Whatever you need!"
With that, he and his blonde counterpart hopped out of their seats and down the aisle.
"I think you have an admirer," Samus mused. "I wonder if we can find that pairing on the fan fiction site."
"Oh, shush," said Zelda. "'We have work to do,' remember?"
The two women sat down next to Jigglypuff, who seemed to had fallen asleep during the exchange with Ness and Lucas. Samus nudged her, "There are some big matches today, isn't there?"
Jigglypuff opened her eyes lazily and smiled.
"Are you rooting for anyone in particular?"
Jigglypuff shook her head.
"Oh come on, everyone has a favorite!" Samus pressed.
"Yes! I, for example, have my rupees on Meta Knight," Zelda contributed.
"Oh, Meta Knight! He is such a great fighter," Samus sighed.
"Jigglypuff," Jigglypuff said lightly.
"So you agree?" Zelda asked.
"Jigglypuff," Jigglypuff said.
"Is that a 'yes' or 'no' ?" Samus whispered to the princess, who shrugged.
"He's so dark and mysterious!" Samus continued.
"I've always thought that type was really romantic at heart," Zelda added. "What do you think, Jigglypuff?"
"Jigglypuff," the Pokemon answered.
"What the hell does -"
"The match is starting!" Zelda interrupted. "Oh, look at Meta Knight go!"
Samus and Zelda cringed for Peach, knowing the beating she was taking had to be painful both physically and emotionally. After five minutes, the match was over. Meta Knight was the undisputed victor.
"What a fight! Any lady would be proud to call that warrior her man," Zelda said loudly.
They both looked down expectantly at Jigglypuff. She was fast asleep.