Ike chased after Zelda as she rushed down the hallway at her usual pace. Falco managed to keep up with ease due to his natural lithe figure; his strides were short and quick as compared to Zelda's long and somewhat methodical ones. Shade was next to Ike, his face becoming slightly flushed. He obviously was not built to be a runner; his shoulders were broad and he was at least 6'2" tall. Alanis seemed to drift behind everyone else, keeping up but not very with the group. Her steps were labored and it looked as if she would pass out any second from exhaustion.

Ike had absolutely no idea where Zelda was taking them, but she seemed to be determined to get there, an intense look on her face. Falco also looked to know where they were going, but his beak remained shut and his eyes forward. At first, Ike noticed that they were heading in the same direction as the stairs up to the Elite suites. However, when they arrived at the base of the stairs, Zelda stopped and turned so that Ike, Shade, and Alanis could all catch up. When they arrived, Alanis seemed to be a little out of breath for some reason. Concerned, Zelda asked, "Are you alright, Alanis?"

She reached out to touch Alanis' shoulder, but the smaller girl swatted Zelda's hand away violently and hissed, "Don't touch me, I am fine." She never once took her eyes off of the floor.

Zelda held her hand gingerly and took a step back from Alanis, as did Ike and Falco. Only Shade didn't seem to be affected by Alanis' bizarre behavior. Shuddering, Zelda turned and placed a hand on portion of the wall just to the right of the stairs. All of a sudden, a small box moved out from the wall, a metallic piece attached to it. Falco placed his key into a small, well concealed hole in the metallic piece and then was teleported off to who knows where. Shade and Ike both looked shocked and even Alanis looked up from the floor with the one eye that she showed wide open.

Zelda chuckled lightly and explained, "Each of you will have access to the room here, so all you need to do is place your key inside the slot."

"Where exactly are we going?" asked Shade, a dubious expression on his usually friendly face.

"Believe me, you'll see," replied Zelda mysteriously.

Taking a step up to the box, Shade drew in a breath and said, "If I get teleported off to some deserted island somewhere, I'm coming for you." With that, he placed his key into the slot and was gone in a small flash.

"Next," Zelda said casually. Alanis stepped forward and placed her key, this one jewel-encrusted similar to Zelda's, and was teleported just like Shade and Falco. "Alright Ike, you're next."

Ike glanced nervously at the box on the wall and gave a small shake of his head. "Look, I really don't like these whole teleporting things…are there stairs I can take?"

Zelda outright laughed and put her gloved hands on her knees, taking in shallow breaths. Ike blushed slightly and reached gingerly for his key. When she finally managed to compose herself, Zelda said, "It takes some getting used to, but I promise that none of the teleporting is as bad as the one that took you here. Now put your key in the slot so we can get going. If we end up behind Samus' group, we're never going to hear the end of it." Ike still looked nervous. Zelda sighed with a smile on her face and complained, "Oh will you grow a pair and just put the damn key in the slot!"

"Harsh," Ike said with a half-smile. Finally mustering up his courage, Ike stepped forward, placed his key in the slot, and blinked.

As soon as he opened his eyes, Ike was standing in what looked like a meeting hall without any chairs. A few people were scattered around, all of them Advanced or Elite rank, Ike noticed. They were casually chatting or leaning up against a wall, or simply standing there awkwardly whilst waiting for the people they knew. The room was rather nice, with a dull brown carpet and red walls. Pictures of different scenes were placed around the room to add a bit of liveliness to it. There were no windows, but it was well lit from several gold chandeliers hanging from the ceiling.

Zelda then appeared next to Ike, causing him to jump a bit. She giggled and Ike said, "I swear I'm manlier than what you've seen so far."

"I don't doubt that," Zelda said calmly, looking around as well. She centered her gaze on Link who was now speaking with two marshmallows, one of which was wearing armor.

"What's with the talking balls?" Ike asked before Zelda had a chance to run off.

Zelda put her hands up to her face to stifle another laugh and explained, "They're not marshmallows, the pink one is Kirby and the one wearing the armor is named Meta Knight, they're in the Advanced and Elite tiers respectively. I'm not exactly sure what they are, but they are both guys, just so you know." Zelda then managed to escape and quickly greeted Link with a small, one-armed hug.

Ike was left alone, but not for long before he finally saw a familiar face. Marth was leaning against one of the several pillars around the room, casually twirling his sword in its sheath, occasionally waving to some of the older members. Ike strutted quickly over to Marth as he was still unfamiliar with the surroundings and the people. "Hey, Marth," Ike called quietly.

Looking over, Marth smiled and stood upright, clipping his sword to his belt. "Hello, Ike, how has the place treated you so far?" Marth asked, shaking Ike's hand warmly.

"This is confusing as hell. I have no idea what anything is, who anyone is, or where any place is!"

Marth laughed. "I know how you feel. When Roy and I got here from the last Calling, we were just as lost as you. Don't worry though; you get the hang of it pretty quickly."

Ike began to glance around the room once again and questioned, "By the way, where is Roy, I haven't seen him since I got here, and his fight got canceled." Ike stood on his toes trying to get a view over some of the taller people's heads.

Marth's face instantly grew serious and hard, quite uncharacteristic of him. "He's…not here right now…and…" Marth paused for a second, thinking on the careful order in which he presented the words to Ike. "He might not be returning for a while. It will be discussed in the meeting we're about to have…once Samus gets her group here."

"I am really getting sick of all the innuendo around here," Ike complained, throwing his hands up in an annoyed gesture easily read by Marth.

Marth shook his head and leaned back up against the pillar. "Look, once this meeting is done and all is explained, we won't have to use it as much." Typical for Marth to be the soothing voice of reason. "By the way, how did your fight go? I was kind of busy fighting Shade."

"I lost, pretty badly too," Ike confessed, slightly ashamed of not putting up a better fight.

Marth smiled and put a hand on Ike's shoulder. "Look, Zelda is one of the best fighters here, and you're new here, so don't worry about it."

Ike nodded. "I only saw that last part of your fight. Shade's not too bad."

"When he takes both his blades out, he can get pretty tough, but he's not as fast as most people with two swords are, but he also has some nasty magic." Marth shuddered for a second. "I took a hit from one of those dark spikes…that was cold…."

Ike laughed as Marth's expression turned from serious to goofy and he began to shiver slightly. "He seems nice enough, though," Ike commented, trying to bring Marth back to reality.

"Oh, he's a great guy…just don't ever willingly fight him."

A small light caught everyone's attention as a man wearing a forest green trench coat appeared in the room. He wore light purple clothes and mustard yellow accessories. He had a certain aura about him that seemed to charge the air with energy. His hair was as white as Alanis', but perhaps not as long and better kept. He looked around for a second before noticing Link and Zelda and jogging over in their direction. The next person to show up was Captain Falcon. Of course, he had to make a big scene and began to dash around each and every group of people and individual person, just to make his presence and speed known to all. Some of the newer members clapped while the older ones, including Marth, rolled their eyes. Finally, Samus appeared. She was in her blue jumpsuit and was holding a small yellow mouse that Ike learned to be called a Pikachu.

Samus scanned the room, giving a small nod to Ike and Marth before leaning against a wall behind her, placing one of her feet on the wall and scratching the furry rodent she was holding.

"Looks like everyone is here," Marth said, "So Master Hand should be coming in a few minutes."

Ike scratched his arm under his shoulder pads and groaned. "Finally, I can see what this whole thing is about and then go to bed."

Five minutes later, a large orb of light appeared in the front of the room where a large, makeshift stage was placed. Ike always wondered why the Master Hand needed such a stand when he was already so big and so…obvious.

"May I have your attention?" The Master called. It wasn't so much a question as it was a statement and an order just meant to be followed. Everyone in the room immediately dropped what they were doing and congregated in the center of the room. Ike ended up next to Marth and Zelda, with Kirby in front of him. Link was next to Zelda with Samus standing behind all of them, still holding Pikachu. "Ah ha ha! Welcome to all of you. I hope you have made yourselves comfortable in your rooms and are starting to get a feel for the building. Old members, you know what this is about, however you also know that we must brief our newer members on what this organization was truly built for." The audience shifted as everyone stood a little straighter and hands fell to sides.

"Now we begin by saying…" The Master Hand trailed off. If he had eyes then he'd probably be staring right at Samus.

"What?" Samus asked. "I haven't even had to chance to break anything yet." A round of laughter was silenced by the Master's unchanging figure. Samus raised her eyebrows and looked at the Pikachu in her arms.

"Samus. You know the rules, only Advanced and Elite are allowed to be here." The Master Hand had quite the stern tone in his voice. "Pikachu, I'm sorry but I am going to have to ask you to leave."

Samus brushed her hair out of her face and hugged Pikachu closer to her body. "My Pika…" she whispered, running a hand down the creature's back. Her expression softened, but she quickly regained her intimidating atmosphere. "Besides, he's already here and he only missed the cut off by .1 points."

Sighing, the Master Hand said, "Fine, I will allow it." Samus smiled cheekily and Pikachu shifted in her grip to get a better view, eventually just climbing up on her shoulder. Shaking himself out, the Master said, "Continuing on, I must stress a point I made with Samus. What you hear in this room today must stay here. There will be no telling of secrets to anybody not in this place right here, right now. Is that clear?

A "yes" made its way through the small party.

"Good, now as most of you are aware, the tournament is mostly for entertainment purposes, showcasing your skills to all of the universes from which you hail. However, there is another reason that we are here. In this universe, there is a group called the Bringers of Madness. They have a belief that when we all accept madness that the world will be a better place and that once we embrace the five circumstances that make up madness, they will cease to exist."

Ike shifted uncomfortably in his place. This talk of "madness" and a group of people trying to bring it about sounded too surreal, too unreal to be true.

"This group is bent of delving the whole world into madness and insanity. Their leader is the most dangerous of them all. Maxwell Heilbinger is his name. He was once admitted to a psych ward where he escaped after managing to produce a powerful toxin from mere elements in his room. He is one of the craziest, yet most intelligent minds that I have ever come across. His access to money is unlimited and he has an endless line of contacts ready to do his bidding at a moment's notice. If any of the newer recruits have any questions on him, ask now."

"How did he escape?" asked Meta Knight.

Sighing, Master Hand floated up slightly higher and then back down, as if the act of breathing had become difficult. "The amount of blood he shed during that time was horrific. There was a serum…it was thought to cure a certain form of madness, but it had the side effect of thinning blood severely. It was first tested on Maxwell himself. However…rather than curing him, it produced the opposite effect. It enraged him, drove him to do even more desperate acts in order to "survive" as he put it. He killed one of the aides before he was finally subdued. Ever since that day, he had an addiction to killing, he gets a thrill off of it. One day, he stole some of the serum and began to inject it into others. A riot soon broke out. Once almost every guard, nurse, doctor, secretary, and janitor was dead, he turned on his former comrades, not trusting them. However, since they had all been injected, one cut to an area prone to bleeding was all it took to have them bleed out. It is said that he walked out of the asylum and laughed as he licked the blade of the knife that he still holds onto nowadays."

The air had grown quite tense, a nervousness filling the air. Sweat beaded the brows of many an attendee and even Samus' composure was beginning to slip. The idea of facing down a madman such as this, who would kill those that tried to help him, unnerved even a hardened veteran such as Ike. "Is he still addicted?" questioned Copycat. His voice was weak and dry.

"Yes." That was all Master Hand responded with. He seemed to be completely lost in thought.

Ike felt cold. He had dealt with maniacs and drug addicts before, they were a dime a dozen. But the idea of a man, who was not only insane, but addicted to killing, terrified him. He remembered the joy he had once received as he looked upon a slain target's face with a grim satisfaction. It had been so long ago, when he first started out, he thought that he had moved on from that stage. Ike jumped as he felt a touch upon his arm. He looked over into Zelda's concerned eyes. "Are you alright?" she whispered. "You're very pale."

Ike shook his head quickly, trying to clear his head, "Yea, I'll be fine, just…a little disturbed."

"Don't feel bad 'bout it," Samus murmured into Ike's ear. "Link over there damn near fainted the first time he heard this, and look around, everyone's nervous, even me."

Ike smiled back at Samus who was snuggling Pikachu tightly to her breast, like a small child would her teddy bear. Link, deciding to break the atmosphere, stated, "Master Hand, you mentioned the five circumstances, why don't you elaborate a bit for people like Ike."

"Good idea, Link, thank you." Master Hand quickly regained himself and loudly began to explain. "Madness, or insanity, if you prefer, is generally a term used to describe a state of mind that is not considered the norm. However, madness isn't necessarily one state, but rather a mixture of several factors that combine to form it. We all possess every single one of these in ourselves, but in small doses, and we also try to suppress them in some shape or form. They are as follows: Anger, Recklessness, Fear, Blindness, and Confusion. Before you all ask any questions, allow me to explain each one further."

"Anger is the most easily recognizable and common one of the bunch. Everybody has been angry before, it is an inescapable fact of life that one may never be able to fully understand, nor control. It invokes feelings of hatred and rage towards a person or object. When we are angry, our thought processes are clouded and we become prone to doing things out of character and violent. Anger relates to madness, not because all mad people are angry, but rather because of the clouded thought process. They have goals in mind that usually involve destruction and often act of vengeance for things that have made them angry in the past. Anger is often countered by being calm. When you are calm, compared to an enraged opponent, they become even angrier, which in the end will fizzle itself out." Master Hand took a pause and seemed to gaze upon the small crowd.

Continuing, he said, "The next factor is a level of Recklessness that is unparalleled to most others. We all do rash things, but madmen do almost everything capriciously and without warning. Doing reckless acts can be dangerous and cause more harm than good in both the short and long term. Samus has quite a bit of experience with this one."

Samus stuck her middle finger up at him and then motioned for him to continue.

"Those who dwell in insanity will do things without a thought of the repercussions that might follow. They think of an idea and they do it. It's this disregard for the possibility of a negative consequence that can make them dangerous and volatile. When fighting a person who displays reckless tendencies, I would recommend attempting to find patterns in their randomness, although they will be completely unpredictable."

Ike and Zelda glanced back at Samus. She shrugged her eyebrows quickly to let them know she knew they were looking at her, but her eyes didn't move. Zelda looked at Ike and shrugged as Master Hand moved on.

"Fear is one of the more interesting variables in this equation. Small doses of fear are actually quite good to have and necessary to keep on living. Should you not fear anything, you are more likely to do things that can easily kill you, even if they are well thought out. However, too much fear will begin to limit you. Rather than take important and intelligent risks, or take an opportunity, one will cower away. This type of fear is the kind I wish that our enemies had, the one that made them run and hide. No, they have the more paranoid type of fear. It is debilitating nonetheless, but it combines the worst of both having overwhelming fear and absolutely none. They will do horrible things, things that most of us are scared to do, because they are terrified of something. Maxwell, for example, was scared of more testing to be done on him, so he killed everyone, innocents included." Master Hand drew in a breath to who knows where and was about to continue before Kirby stopped him.

"We should take a break," he stated.

"I agree, wholeheartedly, Master Hand," Shade said. He was the only one in the room not sweating, pale, or otherwise visibly unnerved.

With a wave of his body, Master Hand agreed. "Everyone be back in this little cluster in five minutes."

Several groups quickly formed, with most of the newer members being singled out. Alanis went to a corner and sat down, one of her eyes peering out into the room, carefully inspecting everything. Copycat began to speak with Kirby and Meta Knight, and Shade chatted with Marth. Ike joined Zelda, Link, Samus, and Pikachu in a small circle. Pikachu scrambled up to Samus' shoulder as she pulled out a cigarette, but a stern glare from Zelda cut her off.

Groaning Samus said, "Fine, but just cause there's no windows in here." She turned to Ike and asked, "So how's the intro party?"

Ike exhaled and put his hand onto Aether's handle. "It's intense, but the one question I have is…"

Link cut him off. "If it's about Crazy Hand, don't ask, he won't tell." Link crossed his arms and stared Ike down...for no apparent reason.

"I was going to ask where Roy is," Ike corrected, slightly annoyed with the undeserved spite he was receiving from Link. The group shuffled nervously. Ike scratched the back of his head. Or don't tell me, not like I don't know what's going on. He thought that to himself.

Zelda spoke up first. "We're going to talk about that, but the short version is that Roy has been captured."

Ike smirked. Link crossed his eyes at him. "It's not funny; he could be in mortal danger!" Link began to grow a little bit red, but a hand from Zelda seemed to calm him down a bit.

"It's not funny, but I promise you, knowing Roy, he'll be fine."

"Everyone back to the stage please!" called Master Hand as he resumed his place upon the stage. The groups meshed back into one as Master Hand continued. "Confusion is another pretty self-explanatory one. Most madmen aren't confused in the normal sense, as in they've lost direction or by a set of instructions, but rather by why things are the way they are. They are confused as to why people act the way they do, whether it be a morally good or wrong decision. They are confused by the most basic functions of life, and as such they often seem as if they've lost their way as they are traveling down a path. Now, this should not be confused with philosophy, which is purposely asking why and attempting to draw rational conclusions. No, these are people who literally confused and will attempt to rationalize everything. They've lost their ability to function without asking why and rather than being able to rationalize it, they are only more lost in their own myriad of equally confusing thoughts." Master Hand stopped and gauged the reactions of his champions. The break was definitely needed as most had regained their poker-faces and the few who hadn't were doing their best to hide it.

"Finally," announced Master Hand, "We have blindness. By now you could probably guess that I don't mean that they are physically blind, although some are. This merely means that once they get an idea that they firmly believe in, they become blind to all others and the consequences of their choice. And when I say blind, I mean it. They become so obsessed with the idea that they see as correct that they will do anything in their power to achieve the right, regardless of their reasons for doing so. Blindness will almost always lead to single-mindedness, which has a terrifying amount of power."

"All of these that I have spoken about are merely parts of ourselves that we learn to live with every day. However, those who are insane have either lost control of these symptoms or willingly embraced them. Also, an overabundance of any one can be the catalyst to another, so watch yourselves." Mast Hand stopped and laid down on the stage, stretching his fingers one at a time, causing a sickening crack to come from each one.

A small wave of murmurs flowed through the crowd and people discussed what the Master Hand had concluded in saying, but Ike finally could not take it anymore. He stepped forward and shot Master Hand a look that should have killed him…if he had eyes. "What happened to Roy?" Ike nearly shouted. He was frustrated and refused to be kept in the dark any longer.

Everyone in the room stared at Ike, but he stood just as strong, meeting every gaze with his own. Master Hand seemed to smile, as weird as the thought might be, but he did. "I am glad you asked Ike, because that leads directly into my next point." Turning his attention to the audience Master Hand stated, "That is the true reason this organization exists. We must fight the Bringers of Madness, and some other minor crime organizations that wealthy people want gone, of which we are only too happy to oblige and accept generous donations. Anyway, you all will be sent out into this universe, known as Realinad, on a version of the planet Earth. You will do this in small groups of no less than three and no more than five. When you are sent out, I will have given you a task to accomplish, generally to either obtain information or to take out a segment of the Bringers. To do this, you will all be granted clothes to blend you into society. As this is a universe dominated by humans, those of you who are not will be changed completely."

"Missions will be given to those who prove themselves not in the arena, but out in the field. Those who consistently succeed will be given the more intense ones, while those aren't as adept at field work will be given lower level ones." Master Hand took a pause to collect his thoughts and continued. "Now, Ike, you will get your answers. Roy has been kidnapped by the Bringers, and more importantly by the mistress of Maxwell, Helena DuVeil. We don't know how or why they chose Roy, but he's not going to be set free until they are sure his mind is in shambles. After a few trial missions, my brother and I will select five people in this very room to attempt a rescue mission. Marth, you and Captain Falcon are out of the question, however, due to the Bringers knowing about the connections you have with Roy." Marth nodded and Captain Falcon crossed his arms and began to pout. "The first large mission we have," Master Hand continued, "Will be to rescue Roy and hopefully destroy the hideout that he's being kept in."

"Where is this hideout?" Ike asked professionally, although he had an idea that this was going to lead nowhere.

"We have no clue," Master Hand responded, although it was clear that he was withholding something from them. "In the meantime we will work to combat these people as much as possible and have a good time whilst we do so! Thank you all for your time, you may head back to your rooms now!" Master Hand snapped and suddenly Ike was back in his own room. Aether was leaning against the wall, his cape was hanging off of the bed, and…Zelda was looking confused.

"Ugh, he can never get that teleport quite right. One of us ALWAYS ends up in another's room." Zelda complained, placing her hand on her forehead and then running it through her dark blonde hair. Ike stared at her for a second as she looked at her reflection in the refrigerator door. She really was quite a beautiful girl, but only time would tell if he looks matched her personality. Ike had learned that generally the more lovely a girl, the worse she was, although Zelda didn't really seem like that.

"Hey, Zelda."

"Yes?" she responded, turning around quickly. "Oh, right, not my room! I'll just be leaving then."

"No, it's not that," Ike said, watching as Zelda placed her hand on the doorknob to leave. She faced him and he continued, "Did it seem like Master Hand was…holding back something from us, something involving Roy? It seems like it was too simple, too easy for an advanced organization. Just to test us, then rush us in and save him. It's too…poetic I want to say."

Zelda's hand dropped from the door and she said, "I agree with you, but for now, it's best just to lay low and see what happens." Ike threw up his hands and began to pace around the room.

"I'm a mercenary, I'm kind of used to having everything laid out for me so I know exactly what I'm dealing with and how to do it."

"Sounds pretty easy to me," Zelda remarked with a smirk on her face.

Ike smiled as well and conceded, "Yes, but I've never done anything this big before." He grasped Aether's hilt and drummed his fingers on it, enjoying the well-worn grip left by his hand after so many years of use.

"Don't worry," Zelda assuaged, "You won't do it alone, and you've got a bunch of allies here."

Ike looked at her and nodded his head. "That remains to be seen."

"What do you mean?" Zelda asked, moving steadily closer to Ike.

"Well, Link doesn't seem to particularly care for me."

Zelda rolled her eyes and said, "Link's just a tad overprotective. He's pretty much convinced himself that every new guy he meets wants to kidnap me and hold me hostage or something." Ike nodded once again and took off his boots and shoulder pads, stretching whilst doing so. He cracked his neck and noticed Zelda staring at him.

"Need something?"

Zelda blushed lightly, but turned in time so that Ike didn't notice. She had been watching him take off his armor and just now noticed how toned he really was. Link was in great shape and strong as anything, but he was also scrawny and felt like a rock solid twig sometimes. Ike had bulk to him, but he wasn't overly muscular. "No, I'll be going now." She walked to the door, but Ike called one last thing after her.

"Hey, I want a rematch sometime, alright?" He smiled and pointed at Zelda comically.

Zelda laughed and responded, "Eager to get your ass kicked a second time?" She quickly covered her mouth and blush, but Ike roared with laughter. Rolling her eyes once again Zelda stated, "Goodnight, Ike." With that she left the room and shut the door.

A/N: Okay, it's been about six months since I've updated this fic and here's the reason why. I had to shift some files around on my computer and the one holding this story got lost in all the rearrangement. For a few months it was an "out of sight, out of mind" kind of thing. Once I remembered, it took me forever to find it. THEN I didn't care for what I'd written, so I erased it all and started the chapter anew. The end.

Concerning the fic, I hope you all can see why I chose the characters I did. Each one ties into one of the main forms of insanity. I'll give a cookie to those who can guess it correctly. (You don't really get a cookie.)

One last thing, don't criticize my definition of insanity or the way I portray it. It's a fucking story, people.