-This chapter is dedicated to Child at Heart Forever for being a faithful reviewer, fellow Ness lover, and overall, being a funky, funky person. Have a great 2009!-

Ness stared intently at the chess board. He'd never expected that the Smashers would ever become so interested in such a simple game, but he felt strangely nervous with so many eyes watching him. The entire population of Smash Palace were watching him, and the only consolation was that the nerves were clearly getting to his opponent as well. Zelda wiped the sweat from her forehead with shaking hands and focused on her next move, but it was tough knowing that all of her friends, and some enemies, were watching.

Ness had never intended for this to happen, but one day, Lucas had been playing a strange looking game with lots of pieces, and it had piqued Ness' interests.

"What's that?"

"It's chess. Want a game?"

"Sure… so how does it work?"

Lucas seemed surprised that Ness had never played chess, and worried that the rules might be too much for him to handle. Luckily, Ness seemed to pick up pretty quickly, looking at the different pieces with wonder as Lucas explained things.

"That's the rook, it can go horizontally or vertically… and that's the bishop, it goes diagonally…"

Ness listened to the rules, occasionally asking Lucas to repeat something, before their game finally got underway. However, after only 5 minutes, Ness appeared to have Lucas in checkmate.

"Wow, that's pretty good. Are you sure you've never played before?"

"Yeah. I guess I must be a natural at this…"

From Lucas, Ness went on to beat the Ice Climbers and then Toon Link. Then, challenging some older Smashers, Ness beat Luigi, Diddy Kong, Fox, and Link. By now, he'd gained an unbeaten run of 7 games, and it was clear to everyone that he was pretty good. However, they assumed it was luck, until he beat Lucario. Then, even the veteran Smashers became interested. They knew Ness was psychic, but they didn't realise how smart he was.

Ness' psychic powers came in handy. If he focused really hard, he could see a brief vision of what the board would look like in a few minutes. If it looked bad, Ness would try to see how he would go wrong and avoid it. It made the game easier, but still required a huge amount of skill and perseverance. Ness constantly thought out every possibility, every option he had, and every move his opponent could make.

Zelda was the only other Smasher who frequently played chess. Being the holder of the Triforce of Wisdom didn't give her a large amount of power or strength, but she still excelled in intelligence, and games like chess gave her an opportunity to show that she was more than just a pretty face. She had never been beaten, and for this reason she was generally regarded as the smartest Smasher there. Hence why now, the entire populace of Smash Palace were watching her intently as she anxiously picked up her Queen and made it retreat a few steps.

Ness was getting more and more nervous, but he smiled as he saw a chance. However, as he went to move, he was interrupted. Bowser had tried to move to get a better view of the game, nudging Ganondorf, who bumped into Peach, who toppled over and screamed, distracting the players and audience as she landed near the foot of a grandfather clock. With an awkward creak, the tall clock leaned forwards and fell towards Ness, who yelled and tried to dive out of the way, but couldn't avoid being struck on the head and briefly blacking out.

…

"Urgh…"

Ness sat up groggily, to see the Smashers staring at him. Feeling alarmed for a second, he calmed down when he heard Samus.

"You ok?"

"I've been better," groaned out Ness, "But I don't think I'm injured."

"You don't appear to have any head injuries. Feel up to finishing the game?"

"Er… sure."

Ness got back onto his seat and tried to remember which chance he'd just seen. Remembering, he smiled again while moving his bishop into a threatening position.

"Check."

Zelda also smiled, and took Ness' bishop with her Queen. However, she noticed too late that she had left herself open to attack. Ness moved one of his pawns forwards. Now Zelda's Queen was trapped. Seeing that there was no chance for her Queen to escape, Zelda decided to go down fighting and took out another pawn with her Queen before waiting for Ness to kill it.

Ness surprised everyone by ignoring Zelda's Queen and moving his rook instead.

"Check."

Zelda hurriedly moved her King out of the way, only for Ness to move his remaining bishop.

"Check."

Zelda began to panic as she scanned the board, seeing only one place for her King to move. Unfortunately, as soon as she moved, Ness grabbed his knight and placed it just where Zelda didn't want it.

"Checkmate."

There was a stunned silence before Ness got a small round of applause from the Smashers. Blushing and feeling proud, he offered to shake hands with Zelda, and she took his hand, albeit somewhat deflated.

"Good game," Ness chirped.

"Yes, quite…" muttered Zelda, without nearly as much enthusiasm. Before Ness could continue, Zelda excused herself and left the room, leaving Ness to be complimented. Some people just said, 'Not bad kid,' while others went a bit over the top. Falco went as far as calling Ness the smartest Smasher there, and Ness was feeling too flattered to deny it.

After the commotion died down, the Smashers went back to their everyday lives, and the next incident Ness thought was a little strange didn't happen until after dinner time. Zelda was on the sofa, reading a book, while Ness was watching TV. However, the scene was interrupted as the Pokemon Trainer ran into the room and sat down next to Ness.

"Ness, are you busy?"

"Not really. Why?"

Pokemon Trainer seemed nervous, but pressed on.

"We haven't really talked yet. My name's Red."

"Ok… nice to meet you, Red. What's the problem?"

"I have an upcoming Pokemon battle with my rival. Could I just run a battle plan past you and see what you think?"

Ness was a bit confused as to why Red would want his opinion of all people's, but agreed. Red brought up a few Pokemon, explained their strengths, and saw what Ness would think. It took Ness a while to grasp the situation, but when he understood, he felt confident enough to give advice.

"Well, you should try and mainly use Charizard since he has the strongest attacks, but exchange him with Ivysaur if you go up against a water Pokemon. You should really only use Squirtle if you're confident enough to think he can take out the enemy in a few hits. Still… I'm not an expert here. You should ask Zelda, she's smarter at these things than I am."

Zelda glanced up when she heard her name being mentioned, but after Red stayed silent for a few seconds, she went back to her book. Red ruffled Ness' cap and left, quickly thanking him for his help, leaving Ness curious. Just what had this chess win done for his reputation? For a split-second, Ness heard a sob coming from Zelda's direction, but when he looked towards the sofa, it had stopped, and her face was hidden behind her book once more. Ness considered asking her if anything was wrong, but didn't want to risk embarrassing her and left to the garden to relax, leaving Zelda in peace.

Once in the garden, Ness still couldn't find time to relax. Lucas wanted advice on his fighting techniques, and Mario wanted to know if Ness had any suggestions for what to get Peach for her birthday. Eventually, night fell, and Ness knew he could relax in the comfort of his own bedroom. Unfortunately, his room was next to Zelda's, and just as he was getting to sleep, he heard gentle sobbing coming through the wall. Hearing another voice, Ness curiously pressed his ear against the wall and listened.

"I know it was just a stupid game, but it was a stupid game that I was good at!"

"You're still good at it Zelda, Ness didn't change that." Ness recognised this voice as Link's.

"But still… it was something I was the best at. Having the Triforce of 'Wisdom' made me feel like I was smart."

"You still are, you're just overreacting. It's just a silly game."

"Then why are people treating me differently? Nobody asks me for help any more, they just go to Ness instead! I saw it with Red today, and I heard he's everyone's favourite agony aunt now. It's like nobody needs me any more."

"You know that's a lie. I need you, you know that."

"But we knew each other before the tournament. If nobody else needs me here, why should I stay?"

"Zelda, don't be ridiculous. You have lots of friends here."

"Think about it Link… I'm not that good at fighting, my only strength was my intelligence, and now Ness has replaced that… there's no use for me any more!"

"Zelda, please calm down-"

"I don't want to be here any more Link, I think it's best if I leave."

Ness tried to hear more, but he was almost deafened when he heard Zelda's door burst open. Although nobody emerged at first, Ness could hear Zelda frantically fighting off tears and packing her things quickly into bags, while Link begged her to stay. It wasn't until Ness actually heard Zelda storming through the corridors that he realised how serious the situation could be. Zelda could actually leave!

Ness ran out into the corridor, and saw that a few other Smashers had already heard the noise and wondered what was going on. Samus, Pit and Ganondorf were the first people there, but soon everyone was watching as Zelda walked to the front door of Smash Palace with her bags while Link's pleading became more desperate.

"Please Zelda, I need you, you can't leave!"

"There's no more reason for me to be here!"

The crowd fell silent, until Link's reply made them all gasp fearfully.

"If you leave, I'm coming with you."

Link's threat made Zelda pause at the door, but she didn't take it seriously.

"Link, you can't leave, you're one of the most famous fighters."

"I don't care. If you go, I go with you."

There was a pause as everyone waited for Zelda's reply, but Ganondorf broke the silence.

"If they go, I'm not sticking around. The only reason I came here is to fight them!"

"I won't stay either," interrupted Toon Link, "I don't want to be the only representative here!"

"Link's my best mate," Pit began, "I'm not staying if he goes."

"Me neither," muttered Samus, "If all my friends go, I go."

"I don't want to be the only woman here, I'll leave too!" added Peach.

Before Ness could stop, most of the Smashers were threatening to leave, and the conversation became a shouting match that Ness couldn't even understand. Unfortunately, Zelda made her voice heard above everyone else's.

"That's enough! I'm going!"

Before Link could reply, Zelda kicked the door open and walked out with her bags.

"Zelda!" Link cried, running out after her as some of the crowd joined him, and some stayed behind. Ness looked around, terrified. If he'd known that something as harmless as a game of chess could cause this much pain to his friend's, he never would have done it! Ness tried to run after Link, Zelda and the others and persuade them to come back, but suddenly, the world around him began to dissolve, and before he knew it, he felt his eyes closing.

…

"Ness, wake up!"

Ness groggily opened his eyes. Looking next to him and seeing the broken old grandfather clock, he looked up around him and saw the concerned faces of the Smashers.

"You ok?" Samus asked. Ness felt strangely relieved, but wanted to make sure he didn't repeat the same mistake. He quickly nodded, and waited for the question he knew would come.

"Feel up to finishing the game?"

Nodding again, Ness quickly took his seat. Thinking deeply, he wanted to look as though he had tried to win and lost, rather than just giving up. Moving his rook forwards, he muttered 'Check' as Zelda began to carry out the defensive plan Ness had seen her building up. Within minutes, he was shaking hands with her as she beamed with pride and chirped,

"Good game Ness. You're quite good at chess."

"Yeah, but you're the best."

Zelda blushed again, but the commotion soon ended and the Smashers wandered away. Ness smiled, safely knowing that he hadn't ended the tournament, and went to watch TV, but heard Zelda calling him back.

"Ness?"

"Yes?"

Zelda paused, and Ness saw something in her eyes. A mixture of fear and gratitude.

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"I think you know what."

Ness was about to deny it, but their conversation was interrupted when the Pokemon Trainer rushed back into the room.

"Good, you're still here Zelda, I wanted to ask you about some Pokemon for an upcoming battle I have…"

Zelda smiled. "Ask away," she replied, sending her large smile Ness' way.

Ness began to smile as well when seeing that Zelda was ok, and left the room, confident that he wouldn't want to play chess again for a long time.