So first of all, I wan to start out by saying that this was a controversial chapter and you'll all see why by the end. I'll explain when you're all done reading...

The next few days proved very useful. The training gyms were great fun. Marth greatly enjoyed the 'Hit Room' where he could practice striking dummies and stuffed bags with his sword and fence with a machine that had a quick moving metal bar attached, so he could practice parrying weapons. He and Link would practicing dodging laser bullets together in another room. Special vests would blink when either of them got hit.

"I think my favorite part," he confided to Ike later that day, "is being able to slit my sword as deep as I can into those stuffed bags."

"Did you slit that sand one?" Asked Link, walking up, his plate piled with food.

Marth colored slightly. "Yes. I didn't realize the difference." He smiled. "I swept it up as best I could."

"Is that the first manual labor you've ever done?" Sneered Captain Falcon, sauntering up to lean against the wall.

"No," answered Marth calmly, taking a sip of tea. "Once Ike hurt a person so badly he bled and Ike..." Marth glanced at Ike and stammered a little. "That is, blood was involved, and I was on my hands and knees cleaning the floor with Rashida. Which, by the way, I just recently got rid of the clothing that was stained with a little blood from that episode."

Pit, who had listened quietly, eating a cookie, glanced at Ike and then at Link. "Uh, Ike? What did you do?"

Ike turned his deep, angry looking eyes on him and grunted. "I freaked out and ran from the room screaming that I'd killed someone. That's the reason I refused to fight outside of portals from then on, at least with my sword."

Pit blinked.

Snake, who had joined Falcon, chuckled. "Wow. Ike screamed. Marth, did he sound like a girl?"

Marth shrugged and glanced at Ike.

Ike nodded. "I think I did."

"Yes, he did," admitted Marth. "But it was admirable, his being so shocked at hurting someone."

Fox and Falco walked up. "I don't believe that," said Falco. "Too weird to think of Ike that way."

Fox raised an eyebrow. "Yeah. But, tomorrow's Saturday, so we'll all get to see how we do when we're surrounded by a bunch of other smashers."

Saturday proved to be completely exhausting. Since it was just practice, no one won. The first time Samus knocked everyone off so many times and flew off twice, she was obviously the 'victor'. The next time Mario was actually the victor. Or he tied with Peach, who had delivered punishing blows with her heels and weapons.

After five brawls in a row Peach and Zelda declared themselves finished. Rashida was pooped, but she wasn't going to quit until Samus quit. And Samus wasn't stopping until the men did. Which meant that Saturday night, Rashida was flinching as she pulled on a dress.

"Ow! Why did you wanna fight until the guys stopped? You know they have better strength levels."

"I don't think so," answered Samus, loftily. "Besides," she added, shrugging. "You didn't have to stay."

Rashida muttered something in Japanese under her breath.

"Tell me," said Samus, leaning back in the small chair she sat on, "What was your family like?"

Rashida shrugged. "I don't know much about them. Ike, Marth, and I are all orphans. Ike has a sister and I think Marth does too. I have two older brothers. But we never see them." She shrugged. "You?"

"Orphaned too," answered Samus shortly.

"Where did you get your views about girls and boys being equal?" Asked Rashida, plopping down cross-legged in front of her.

Samus raised an eyebrow and then laughed. "Everyone I worked with told me that. Mostly because I was really cocky, but would lose and then struggle with self image, saying I couldn't be a good brawler and I'd never get picked. They told me I could get just as good as guys and I practiced and proved them right." She shrugged.

Rashida shrugged as well. "Just because you can beat a guy doesn't mean girls are the same or better. You might be exceptional, but the strongest guy is still stronger than the strongest girl. You couldn't beat Ike, Snake, Falcon, or Link and Marth in an arm wrestle. Then again, you could probably balance better and they don't have hips, so they can't turn like you. Separate, but equal, you know. Guys aren't better than girls and vice verse, but each gender has their specific strength."

"So profound, Einstein," remarked Samus, rolling her eyes. "I have half a mind to challenge Marth to an arm wrestle. But I'm not completely positive I'd beat him and I won't lose to that brat again."

"That brat, or that excellent sword fighter?" Asked Rashida, standing. "Come on. It's time for dinner."

The dining room had been arranged with one long table and to the surprise and disappointment of all involved, the places were named. Marth had Yoshi, a small green lizard, on one side, and Fox on the other. Then was Kirby, Luigi, Snake, Peach, Ike, Mario, Falco, Captain Falcon, Bowser, Zelda, and Ness. On the other side, facing Ness, was Pit and then Ganendorff, Toon Link, Link, Meta Knight, a blueberry/bat with a mask, Rashida, Donkey Kong, a gorilla, Samus, Wario, and King Dedede, a giant penguin.

"I do not want to sit next to a gorilla and a creeper!" Snapped Samus.

"Read the rules, babe," said Snake's soft, deep voice behind her. "You sit where assigned or you don't eat."

Samus glared at him. "Don't call me babe, creep, or I'll punch you in the nose."

"Whatever you say, babe," answered Snake, sauntering over to his seat between the short green man and the pretty pink princess.

Samus' blue eyes narrowed and glittered. "Don't forget," she hissed, as she leaned as far over the table as she could to get in his face, "I beat you at brawl."

"That's because you had gorilla man," answered Snake, uncorking a bottle of wine and pouring it into his wineglass. He winked at her and picked it up, inclining it slightly towards her. "Cheers."

Samus was tempted to take the glass and hurl it in his face, but she didn't want to get in trouble. Instead she rolled her eyes and slouched back in her chair to stare at everyone.

Samus was facing Peach, who was sitting very still, her blue eyes wide and slightly dilated. What was her deal? Then Samus noticed 'gorilla man' sitting next to her and she snorted.

"Ike," she said. "You're making Peach nervous."

Ike leveled his eyes at her and she did the same at him, except her eyes pierced, but his eyes bored holes.

"Too bad. She should be. She's not my friend."

"Ike Greil!" Snapped Rashida, leading around Donkey Kong's hairy chest. "Would you just settle down and be nice for once! You're annoying the life out of me!"

Ike did not remove his even gaze from Samus, so she glanced at Rashida and saw that the swords woman was standing now, her chair pushed back, her hands planted on the table.

"What's wrong, Ike? Why are you so... So...?" She sighed and blew a strand of pink hair from her face. "You've really changed a lot since you were eighteen."

Ike's eyes finally flitted to glance at her and Peach, glancing at him, could see that Rashida was about to be in trouble. The usually stoic face was turning a reddish hue. And it wasn't embarrassment that was coloring his cheeks. Ike was good and angry.

"Rashida," came the low voice of Marth. He was way down the table, but he knew how to make himself heard. "Stop. Now."

"I want answers!" Snapped Rashida.

"Sit down!" Snapped Samus.

"Why would you care that I make him angry, brat!" Rashida retorted hotly, not moving her bright eyes from Ike's stormy ones. His eyebrows were knitted together like never before and his eyes flashed. He was red to the tips of his ears.

Peach took a deep breath. She would be brave. She would be brave, she would be brave!

"Uh, guys? Do we have to wait, or can we all eat now? Or do we...?" Her voice was small and hesitant and Mario answered in a loud powerful voice with his thick Italian accent, "I say we eat now! Cheers everyone! Eat up and enjoy!"

Rashida sat down in her chair with a thump, her cheeks suddenly circles of fire, her eyes seeming to want to laser her plate in half.

Ike's face slowly returned to it's normal color, but his eyes stayed dangerously bright.

Throughout the meal Samus watched Peach. The princess was pink cheeked the whole night and shaking so she almost spilled wine all over her lap. Instead, as she was about to drink, one elbow resting gently on the table, Wario, right beside Samus, pounded the table in response to something Luigi said.

Peach's wine glass jolted in her hand and some splashed on her horrified face, the wine glass dropping from her hand to fall on Ike's lap. Oh, boy.

Ike gave a guttural exclamation of surprise and scooted his chair away from the table.

Donkey Kong gave a hooting laugh and pounded the table again, as if he wanted to see a replay of what had just occurred. What occurred was the five wine bottles on the table all fell over, along with everyone's wine and water glasses, soaking nearly everyone's laps. The result was no one was happy.

"Whose idea was that?" Asked Marth, as Link and Pit walked with him and Ike down the hall.

"I'm never going to get these wine stains out of these white clothes," mourned Pit, running his fingers through his thick brown hair. "That monkey is a menace."

"I think he's more of a gorilla," said Link, shrugging. "The real problem is, we didn't get to sit next to anyone we wanted. I'm sure Ike would have wanted Marth on one side, Snake on the other and Captain Falcon across from him. As it was, Ike, you got stuck with the pretty but frightened princess who also ended up spilling wine on your lap and almost fainting as a result, and that red capped nice guy, Mario. I guess the Mario part wasn't so bad, huh?"

Ike shrugged. "No, not really. I guess you wanted to sit next to that other princess lady."

Link colored. "Besides her being the nicest and best girl there, yes. We're together, you know?" He crossed his fingers again and shrugged. "My neighbors weren't all that bad, but I'd much rather have been with... Other's."

"I can't wait for tomorrow. Just to rest seems wonderful," admitted Marth. "These multi brawls are hard. Because it's training the anti-pain simulators aren't turned up as high."

"What if someone turned them all the way down?" Asked Pit.

Marth blinked and then glared seriously. "It could kill someone, Pit."

Link nodded. "Yeah, but they have lots of codes in there. You can't get in unless you were like an epic code hacker or something."

Marth nodded. "The authorities know it can be dangerous. They take safety precautions." He put a comforting hand on Pit's shoulder. "Don't worry."

Pit jerked away self consciously. "I'm not worried and I'm not a scaredy cat."

"Good," grunted Ike. "Because there are ten brawls every Monday through Wednesday. And the pain may be decreased, but it still takes a lot of energy."

Sunday passed so fast Ness, Lucas, and Toon Link were all complaining loudly when they were called to bed by the curfew bell. "But I almost won that card game!" Protested Toon.

"Yeah!" Added Ness. "I'm not a bad sport! I'd have kept playing."

"Boys, you're going to need your rest," answered Zelda, half herding them to their rooms.

"Yep. You guys have to be full of energy to stand a chance," said Samus. "And hope you aren't facing me."

Lucas turned to stare at her with wide eyes. "Do you hit as hard as Ike?"

Samus snorted. "First off, don't compare me with that guy. And second of all, no. But I hit a lot more frequently. He, on the other hand, has trouble getting a single jab with that heavy weapon." She rolled her eyes.

Zelda giggled. "Link said he was going to try to lift it one of these days. With one hand, like Ike does. By the way Samus, do you like any guys here?"

Ness, Lucas, and Toon instantly quieted and calmly walked as quietly and slowly as they could towards their rooms, ears straining for juicy information.

"You mean because we've been talking about Ike? No. I hate that snobby prince probably more than Ike, but Ike's so proud and stiff, he drives me to distraction. I just wanna give him a good kick in the gut and send him flying, but I haven't been pitted against him yet. I tell you though, when I am, I can't wait to let some air out of him. And maybe he'll loosen up a little, sheesh!"

Zelda, un-phased by Samus' rambling, shrugged. "Most guys like that probably were mistreated as children. And they're probably really shy, plus struggle with anger problems. Which is why you should watch your tongue."

Samus snorted. "Ike's a wimp at heart. All guys like that are. And I've met a lot. They just need to be creamed and they'll grovel and whine. I overheard a story that Ike made someone bleed a little and ran off screaming like a girl." She snorted. "That's the guy behind the cover of 'muscle man'. But what about you? I know you like Snake, but does Link know?"

She grinned as Zelda punched her arm. "Be quiet! I do not like Snake. He's creepy and he called me 'babe'. But to be honest with you, I don't really like Link like he thinks I like him. To me, he's a friend, and that's it."

"Seriously!" Gasped Samus, slightly shocked. "I thought you liked him at least a little!"

"I do like him!" Answered Zelda, defending herself. "But I don't... Love him. Not in that way, you know? But I'm worried because he's such a sweetheart and I really don't want to offend him." She sighed. "Well, good night. See you tomorrow."

The girls parted ways at the two doors that led to Ness and Lucas' room and Toon Link and Kirby's room. All three boys exchanged glances.

"She was super mean to Ike," said Lucas.

"I'm going to tell him," said Toon. "But you guys have to promise not to tell Samus that I told Ike that she said what she said, because I shouldn't be telling him that, because he'll probably get pretty mad at her."

Lucas looked confused.

"We won't tell," said Ness. "But honestly, I think that's a bad idea."

Okay. So quite a few of the smashers got mad at me for not mentioning them and the fact that they were eating with everyone at dinner as well. And I want to reassure everyone that I did not forget to include them I simply... Ummm... Didn't have time to mention that they were seated at the other table.

Now, to Samus, I'm sorry I had to expose her like that, but this should be a good warning to everyone that gossiping isn't a good idea.