Everyone likes public speaking, right? Marth has agreed that some of his ideas don't really work out the way he'd want. Awwww. So humble.
The next day were the team brawls which meant a different outfit.
Ike and Marth were together for the first brawl, both wearing red capes and red armor and Ike's headband was red. They fought Lucas and Ness and defeated them when Marth cleverly countered one of Lucas' smash attacks, sending the young boy hurling into Ness, who was distracted long enough for Marth to dash forward and whip his sword forwards three times in quick succession, knocking both boys back into Ike, who was charging a smash attack.
The boys turned in terror to briefly see one eye close in a stoic wink. Then the great, two-handled sword crashed down, sending them both shooting from the screen with cries of astonishment and pain.
In the finishing room Marth glanced back at the two boys, who were panting behind them, Lucas giving Ness an apologetic look, as if it was his fault they had lost. "You both did good," said Marth, giving them a thumbs up.
Lucas smiled shyly and Ness flashed a grin. "Thanks, handsome prince. But you won't beat us next time."
Next Marth was teamed with Luigi against Bowser and Rashida.
Marth and Luigi beat them, but just barely in sudden death.
"Good game," panted Marth, hands on his knees, as he stared at Rashida.
"You too," she answered, grinning and taking deep breaths.
Ike was delighted when he found he was with Snake and less delighted when he realized he wasn't on the spy's team, but fighting Snake and Captain Falcon. Samus was on his team.
Ike brought his sword up and let his cape blow out behind him as he stared right into Snake's hard eyes and said, "Prepare yourself."
The brawl was close, but in all reality Samus was the winner, since Ike was killed within a minute by a well aimed attack by Captain Falcon, who was just as instantly thrown out by one of Samus' plasma balls. Her next attack was repulsed by Snake, but as he attempted to fly his small helicopter over her head she jumped up and sent him flying with an upper cut to his strong jaw.
As they stood in the finish room Ike glanced at Samus and summoned enough manners to say, "Good job."
Samus whirled on him, removing her visor so he could get the full effect of her words combined with her flashing eyes. "You bet I did a good job! And what did you do, you big oaf? Nothing! I practically won alone! You look soooo intimidating, but I don't know why that Peach was scared of you! You're the worst brawler yet. And I'm going to have aches and pains for a while because you couldn't hold your own so I had to beat those two ninnies by myself!"
Snake, his back to the two, glanced over at Captain Falcon and raised his eyebrow.
At lunch Ike, sweaty and fuming, repeated Samus' insults word for word. "She's the meanest woman I've honestly ever met," he growled. "I thought only trainers could speak like that, but through the years of insults I've received, getting it from Stuck Up Girl is the worst and I don't think I'll ever forgive her for that humiliation."
Rashida, listening with intent, was growing just as angry as Ike. "Why how dare she speak about you that way? As if she wins every brawl! As if she didn't lose to Marth under a minute!"
Marth, his blue eyes cold, stood. "She isn't polite. But neither of you should gossip. And Ike, perhaps she didn't realize she'd hurt you. If you explain your feelings about her hurtful insults perhaps she would apologize."
"Oh, you always try to make everyone better in your mind!" Snapped Ike. "And whether that's true or not, I'm surprised that you have forgotten that I never share my feelings with anyone except my closest friends occasionally. Certainly not with a snob I don't really know and I saw for the first time four days ago."
He stood and walked off and Marth stood as well and walked out of the dining area and to the lobby at the front of the building.
Sitting at the desk was the woman with the tight, neat bun who had been at the two day training school. She glanced up from the computer and nodded stiffly. "How can I help you?"
Marth glanced behind him to make sure no one was there. "Would the authorities of Ultimate Brawl make a night where each smasher would introduce him or herself. Say tell their names, ages, and perhaps an interesting fact or two about them?"
Her eyes softened; barely. "I will suggest it. Why?"
"It would help everyone learn a little more about each other, especially since a certain someone I know is thought to be mean, and I wish to alleviate that."
"Thank you for your suggestion. But let me add that if someone who acts mean on the outside gets up in front of people and shares about them self, they won't get all sugary on stage."
Marth nodded. "That is true. But we shall see." He smiled, bowed, and walked off.
The woman put her elbow on her desk and dropped her chin in one hand as she watched him go, a thoughtful expression on her face.
That evening, as they ate, the speakers announced Marth's idea, but didn't mention it was the bluenette prince who had suggested it. Lucky for him, because most of the smashers turned a furious shade of red and a collective sigh fell about the room, followed by buzzing voices.
After dinner they all collected in the lounge, which was huge, with a stage at one end and a huge screen at the other.
Marth entered calmly, keeping his face pretty expressionless as he walked right up to Ike, who was folding his arms and slouching between Snake and Captain Falcon.
"Do you know what we have to do?" He asked.
"Do I look like I do?"
Marth shrugged and glanced at the stage. "Oh, that's right. Public speaking was never your thing."
Ike flushed and glared at the ground. When he looked up, Marth wasn't there, he was talking with Link on another couch. Peach was right across the room, staring at him, and their blue eyes locked.
She hurriedly looked away, her gloved hands shaking as she grabbed her skirt and hurried to crash on the couch next to Zelda, who was adjusting her crown. The crown flew from her hands and landed with a tinkle on the floor.
In an instant Toon Link had leapt from his perch on the back of the couch and had scooped it up, instantly dashing away.
He ran straight into Marth, who grabbed the back of his small green tunic and held him up.
Zelda raced forward to snatch her crown, but Captain Falcon, such a tease, had already grabbed it.
Marth dropped Toon Link and gave Falcon a disapproving look. Falcon grinned at Zelda, who was stomping towards him, and held the crown tantalizingly above her grasp. Then he tossed it over to Bowser, who caught it, gave a wicked grin, and crushed it in his huge hands.
Zelda gave scream of fury and was instantly charging up her magic.
"Zelda, no!" Shouted Link, racing forward.
Zelda felt her breath leave her as someone tackled her and kept her in a roll as they hit the ground and came to rest near a couch, Snake's knee on her stomach, his hands on her shoulders. "You're gonna hurt someone, babe," he said.
Zelda's eyes were sparking flames of fury as he let her stand. "Don't you touch me ever again, you creep! Bowser! You'll get detention for those! And maybe worse! It's illegal to damage someone else's property, especially one as irreplaceable as that!"
Link walked over to her. "It's alright, Zelda. We can get you another crown."
Zelda blinked back tears of fury and sat down.
"I'm sorry," came Toon Link's voice. He sounded like he was near tears. "I wasn't trying to get your crown smashed. I was just... It was so beautiful I wanted to touch it."
Zelda sighed. "Thank you. Next time don't touch someone else's thing without asking. I might have let you hold it if you'd just asked." She put her chin in her hands and they all turned as a man with a small goatee and friendly eyes entered the room and stepped onto the stage.
"Hello, smashers. You all look lovely today. For some info, every Wednesday there will be board games and card decks available here for collective playing. Every Saturday there will be a special dinner where fancier clothes are required. Sunday is a day of rest. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday there will be brawling: between solos on Monday and Tuesday and team battles on Wednesday. Thursday and Friday is training in the gyms. Saturday are practice brawls between an unlimited number of characters on the portal to the far left of door 3.
"Now, let us get started. This is an introduction night. I will ask the females to come up first and share their name, age, weapon, and something interesting about themselves. Keep it to three minutes, please. Princess Peach, would you start?"
Peach turned a rosy pink, but stood and gracefully made her way up to the stage, turning to face the smashers, lounging on the red couches.
"Hi," she said in the provided microphone. There was a moment of piercing feedback and Peach flinched and turned a deeper shade of pink than before, tears inadvertently coming to her eyes. She blinked them back. "Sorry," she whispered. Then she smiled. "My name is Princess Peach, uh, I'm twenty years old. I have a few weapons, like my frying pan and golf club, but I also have a dagger and my high heeled shoes have been said to pack a punch." She laughed hesitantly, but the others got the joke and there was a general chuckle throughout the room, immediately lightening the atmosphere.
Peach beamed. "I'm not the best of brawlers, but I have some good days. I like hanging out with my friends and I like taking care of babies." She blushed. "One day I hope to have some of my own, but anyway, I also like to sew. So if any of you rip your clothes or something, I'd be happy to mend them for you, if you want."
She smiled and glanced at the man, who nodded.
She walked off the stage and sat down and Rashida got up and walked on.
"I'm Rashida. I'm twenty one. I've got a pretty epic sword that I've trained with my whole life. I grew up training with Ike and Marth, and, uh, I like to talk and play sports, like for fun."
Samus walked up, folded her arms, and swept the room with an icy stare. "Samus. Twenty two. I've got a suit with blasters and stuff, but I've also got some nifty weapons without my suit, and they hurt just as bad. I'm not a nice person and I'm pretty picky when it comes to anything." Suddenly she smiled a little, a hint of a real smile, and shrugged. "But after initial reactions I can be friendly." She raised a dark eyebrow. "If I want."
Zelda, after saying her name and age, twenty two, added, "I'm a princess as well and I can be a little proper, which means I don't like people tackling me or talking to me without respect. I warm up decently fast, but I'm not super warm, like Peach. Anyway, I like kids, if they're good kids."
While Lucas was hesitantly making his way on stage, Snake leaned over to Ike and muttered, "What're you gonna say. I'm Ike, I'm twenty something, and I hate everyone?"
"You'll see," grunted Ike, glowering at Lucas, who was looking at them out of his small black eyes and he saw the boy become extremely frightened.
"Uh, I'm Lucas," he started, his voice very small and shy. "I'm eleven and I have some cool powers that I can use... Uh, I like to play ping pong and paddle ball and soccer. And sometimes I like to play other games, if they don't hurt so bad."
There was another general chuckle and Lucas turned scarlet to the tips of his ears and walked off the stage, Ness taking his place. "Ness. I'm twelve and a half. I've got some electrical powers too. Uh, I like all sorts of games. I think I'm nice, but I guess I can be pretty mean in brawls. But I'm really looking forward to making friends here, no matter their size, shape, or color." He grinned.
Toon Link was ten and liked playing with animals and teasing people, but at least he was always sorry.
Some animals followed. Bowser, Fox, Kirby, Falco, Donkey Kong, and Diddy Kong.
Then Link went up. "Link. I'm twenty two, like Zelda. I've got a sword, a dagger, and a shield. I like teasing too, I guess, but I hope you guys don't take me seriously when I joke and stuff. I'm a fun guy, I guess. I like training with my sword, jumping, flipping, and I actually like gambling, but that's not the biggest pro." He grinned and shrugged and walked off.
Snake followed and kept his eyes glued on the man who had introduced it as he said in his soft, deep, scratchy voice, "I'm Snake. I'm twenty seven. I'm not a nice person to be around and I think I'm rated PG as a person, so the kids had better watch out. I like practicing my kicks and punches, which means everybody else had better watch out, in the training room at least."
Marth stepped up onto the stage and turned to give a small, almost superior, smile to the group of smashers. "My name is Marth. I am twenty one years old. I am a prince and my first language is Japanese. I have a sword. I enjoy fencing and helping others when need be. I realize I may sound formal, but I am a helpful person waiting to be asked." He bowed slightly and walked off.
Ike's boots sounded heavily on the floor as he took a stance by the microphone. "Ike. Twenty three. I have a big sword. I fight for my friends. If you're not my friend, you'll get no sympathy from me. And in the actual brawls, no one qualifies as my friend." His stormy eyes rested on Peach when he had finished and she shivered, but kept her eyes glued to his eyebrows, which was where she had been looking the entire time he had been speaking.
Captain Falcon introduced himself as a twenty five year old who didn't like spinach or Asian food and liked helping people out, but mostly liked driving his car around at insane speeds.
Mario and Luigi said basically the same things as each other. Ganendorf, Pitt, and a few more went and the event finished.
Marth followed Ike to their room, muttering Japanese under his breath. Finally he exploded. "Why did you have to make yourself sound so unpleasant? Don't you want people to realize you don't hate everyone. You didn't even smile or remove that horrific glare from your face! What's wrong with you?"
Ike grinned. "Why should you care what my speech sounds like. Everything I said was true. Marth, as much as I like you, you don't qualify as my friend during actual brawls because then I would never win. But hey, don't feel too bad. You and Rashida and Snake, I suppose, are my only real friends outside of actual brawls anyway."
Marth glared as he sat on a chair. "That shouldn't be the case. If you acted amiable or at least put on a show of niceness you would have more friends."
Ike shrugged and leaned back on the bed. "Why would I want more friends? That just means I have to fight twice as hard in the brawls, the more friends I have rooting for me, and I have to defend more people outside of brawls. Which is extremely hard and aggravating when you can't use force of any kind that would cause pain or something." He sighed. "Whatever. Night."
Marth rolled his eyes and leaned back in his bed as well, staring at the ceiling. "Ike, I will find you friends, and you will be friendly, you hear me?"
"I hear you all right," came Ike's voice. "But I make no promises. Although I will say that I'm not necessarily averse to making friends with everyone."
Marth began to plan as silence fell. Who did Ike hate. That Samus lady. It was easy to see why. So then, if he could get Ike to be friends with Samus, he could get Ike to be friends with anyone. Perfect plan and extremely hard if not impossible to complete. But the prince liked challenges.
That Sunday Captain Faclon took quite a few people rides in his car. The insanely fast speeds made Mario and Luigi both sick. Lucas, too, became a little ill, but everyone else loved it.
Snake, Ike, Bowser, and Captain Falcon then all spoke with the person at the lobby desk, a man this time, and he gave them permission to have a big wrestling competition in the portal.
In the middle of it, Toon Link found out and the rest of the smashers, bored of just talking, all dashed into the portal entrance for the stands and made their way into the stadium's seats, sitting down and eagerly watching the fight.
The three men and the dinosaur were clueless and enjoying themselves tremendously as they playfully cursed each other and used some playful banter as first one got the upper hand, then two got the upper hand, etcetera.
Finally Snake, who had leapt out of Bowser's reach, spotted everyone sitting in the bleachers. It was the first time anyone had seen Snake get good and mad. He turned purple with rage and with a roar, stopped the wrestling match.
The three stood and folded their arms simultaneously.
"Next time we'll have to put a lock on the portal!" Roared Bowser.
"Peeping Toms and Tometts!" Called Captain Falcon. "It was a private wrestling match you weren't supposed to see."
"It's not like you guys made fools of yourselves!" Called back Falco.
"Except for your curses, everyone enjoyed it immensely!" Added Ness.
Ike folded his arms and then bumped Snake. "I'm guessing nobody's scared of me, because they're certainly not trying to get on my good side. Apparently they don't care if I fight for or against them."
"Or they're just all stupid," snapped Snake. "No one would want to fight against you."
Ike bent and got to his knee, placing his sword with the blade in the ground, both hands resting on the top of the handle. He glanced up at Snake as he disappeared from sight.
Snake got down on a knee as well and lifted his hand to his ear. He too faded.
"Well," said Snake, as they walked along the hall, "I don't think you falling from the cliffs a billion times when you were with Samus helped anyone get a visual image of you being able to beat anyone up."
Ike growled a response in Japanese. Then he added, "Only you, Samus, and Captain Falcon saw that."
"Are you crazy? Everyone can see any brawl they want. Just type in two names. Ike x Peach, and up will come that brawl you creamed her in."
Ike glanced at Snake. "Oh."
"Let's go up on the roof," said Snake. He opened a door, revealing a closet with cleaning supplies inside and on the ceiling a trap door.
Ike watched as Snake opened it and slipped up through the hole, disappearing in the bright light. Then his face appeared. "Come on."
"There is no way I am going up through that hole only to get stuck half way and have everyone come and laugh at me!" Snapped Ike.
Snake grinned. "Just try."
Ike gave him a look. "Don't tempt me, or I'll have to punch you."
"Yeah? Wait 'till tomorrow during training. If you won't come up through here, go to the dining area, go out onto the balcony, and climb up the wall."
Ike nodded and walked off, Snake calmly closing the trap door and wondering if it was actually illegal to climb the smash mansion roof and naturally decided he didn't care that much.
Ike grabbed the top of the door frame of the huge door that led to the dining room and hoisted himself up. Then he pushed off with his arms, turning red in the face, and grabbed the edge of the roof, pulling himself up with a a grunt and winking at Snake, who stood there with his arms crossed.
"You're good."
Snake and Ike discussed their past training experiences and, just as Snake was about to bring up girls, the dinner bell rang. They glanced at each other.
"Should we go?" Hissed Ike.
"I don't know if we'll get detention or just one less meal for not showing up," answered Snake. "Let's go."
He stood and Ike stood behind them, both jumping off backwards from the roof to land with a thunk that shook the ground and made all heads whirl around.
"Where you two on the roof?" Link finally asked.
Ike and Snake exchanged glances that mutually said they would not answer the question and they calmly sat down.
Obviously Ike and Snake were very happy with this chapter. And the only reason I know is because both of them went out of their way to say hello to me. Pretty impressive!