SBS Time!
Mystery-guy: Why did the government take off Samus's bounty even though she knows something about Armageddon?
Game2002: You can never understand how the government does things.

Chapter 2
This hotel is awesome! Let's go tour in the museum next!

In the previous chapter ended with the Smashers entering the hotel, and now we continue where the previous chapter left off.

"Here are your keys," the clerk said while handing the key to Mario.

Mario took the key from her and read the numbers on the plate attached to the back of the key, "508."

"That's on the fifth floor, so let's go!" Luigi said.

"The highest floor! We get the highest! Ha!"

"Tsk! Lucky you! I have second floor, which is the lowest in this hotel…" Wario grumbled before walking away with his luggage in tow.

Gyde appeared and said, "Okay, it looks like everyone has gotten the keys for their room. Right now it is one in the afternoon, and at two o'clock, please come to the lobby where we will take off to the Museum of Lycia for a tour, and then after that, we will have dinner…"

"Nobody is listening," ROB said. He was the only person still standing in front of Gyde whereas the others all left for their rooms.

"Thanks for listening to me to the end…"

"I only came back here because Game and Watch forgot his luggage." And ROB got the luggage and went, leaving behind a crying but smiling Gyde.

"I have to try my best…" he thought.

-

The door to Room 510 opened and Asuna, Konoka, and Setsuna stepped inside and took a glance at their well-decorated room. "Whoa… They really put lots of effort into this place as if we are VIPs…" Asuna said in awe.

"It really is beautiful!" Konoka said. She walked up to the veranda and looked out into the inner courtyard of the hotel and said, "You can even see the entire courtyard from here! I really love how this place is designed!"

Indeed, the entire hotel was built in the same architectural style of a sports stadium. When seemed from air, it was hexagon in shape with the center being an open courtyard if you know what I mean. I was never good at descriptions, so please bear with this…

She went back inside and noticed that there were only two beds. "Hey, there are only two beds. Secchan, it looks like we'll have to sleep today on the same bed, heheh!"

Hearing this, Setsuna became shocked and her faced turned red. "What!? Sleeping with Ojou-sama on the same bed…" she said desperately in her mind. "But…" She visualized a picture in her mind of the both of them asleep in the same bed and touching each other in… Better not get too far… "But we're still too young… and how can I do this to Ojou-sama… I…"

Asuna noticed a note placed on the table between the beds and it wrote: In case there are more than two people in the room, feel free to separate the beds. One bed consists of two mattresses stacked on top of each other. Please contact the front desk for additional pillows and blankets.

"You don't have to sleep together," Asuna told them. Setsuna sighed with relief hearing this and Konoka told her she was kidding just now. "I'll go tell the front desk about this."

"You can just use the phone…" Setsuna reminded her, but Asuna already stepped out.

When she stepped out, she saw Negi unlocking the door to his room which was just next to hers. Room 509, to be precise… "So your room is next to ours?" she asked.

"What a coincidence! That makes it easier if I needed to scout you girls!" Negi said. "The others are all located quite far away unfortunately…"

"So you're alone by yourself in here? Not counting that perverted ermine of yours, that is…"

"Never mind, I can deal with it. I need to learn to grow up and sleep by myself, don't I?"

"You always say that but you always end up sleep walking into other people's room to sleep with them. Anyway, feel free to come over if you get lonely."

"Thanks, though I have told Kotaro that he can come over if ever he is bored. You can also come over if you feel like it! By the way, remember that at 2 o'clock, we are going to the Museum of Lycia, so make sure to gather at the lobby on time."

"No problem!"

Shortly after Asuna left and Negi went into his room, the Mario Bros. and Parry came over to the door of Room 508 and Mario unlocked it to go inside. "Nice place here!" he commented.

"It sure is beautiful! Even more so than the one in Wonder Town!" Luigi said.

While Mario went into the bathroom, Luigi placed the bird cage on a table and opened it for Parry to come out, and then he went to the veranda to take a look at the outside. "Freedom at last! Life behind bars sure is no fun," Parry said happily. He walked around the table and then looked at himself in the mirror that was on the wall.

Luigi came back in saw him looking in the mirror and then thinking that Parry was like all other birds who would mistaken their own reflection for another bird, he jokingly said to him, "Wow! I didn't know they have another parrot in this hotel! Now you have company!"

Parry turned to him and said, "Well, aren't you a dumb one? Even a three years old kid knows that this is a mirror reflection. How much IQ do you have? Oh look, the window is open! I'll go out there to play for a while!" He flapped his wings and flew out from the veranda.

Mario came out from the bathroom and saw Luigi sitting in the corner with a dark and moody aura around him. "What-a happened?" Mario asked him.

"I've been looked down at by a parrot…" Luigi cried. "I feel so ashamed of myself…"

-

Parry flew around the inner courtyard admiring the design. There were trees and plants grown everywhere, making it a very lovely garden. In the center of the courtyard was a large fountain that had rocks in the middle, and on those rocks were tree branches with several other parrots. Parry perched onto one of the branches and said to the parrots, "Howdy do! I didn't expect there to see my kind here!" But those parrots didn't say anything at all. "Hey, are you guys listening to me? Hello? Are you made of wood?"

Pichu hopped onto the side of the sitting and said, "Those are models, Parry. They're not real."

Hearing, Parry suddenly sulked at one end of the branch with a dark and moody aura around him. "I can recognize a mirror reflection, but not a fake model… I'm ashamed of myself…" he cried.

"Cheer up…" Pichu said to him, trying to comfort him. "At least you're not like Pikachu who still falls for the simplest traps…"

Jigglypuff hopped onto the fountain and asked, "What's up?"

Then the Narutaki twins passed by the place gazing at the sceneries around them and happened to saw Pichu and Jigglypuff at the fountain. "Hey look! What are those! They're so cute!" Fuumika said.

"I know! I've seen them on books before! That's a Pichu and a Jigglypuff!" Fuuka pointed out. Both the Pokemon waved their hands at them with a smile on the face and the girls squealed happily and ran up to them to hug them. "Awww! So cute!"

"I really want to take them home!" Fuumika said.

"Heheh! Not being able to evolve has its merits!" Pichu said in his mind happily.

-

Nodoka, Yue, and Haruna were taking a walk somewhere else around the court. Meanwhile, Yoshi, Kirby, and Lucario were seen in the background of the same area as them. "This place sure is beautiful!" Haruna commented. "It's basically a dream kingdom!"

"This place looks beautiful!" Yoshi said. "If I were to compare it to food, it would be like a deluxe steak set!"

"Nodoka, I think this would be a great spot for you to go on a date with Negi sensei!" Haruna continued

Nodoka's face turned red and she heard this. "What…?! Why'd you say all of a sudden?!"

"I think this would be a great spot for picnic!" Yoshi said.

"Why did you think about having a picnic here all of a sudden, father?" Lucario asked him.

"Because there are couples over there too!" Haruna replied, pointing to some couples that were lovey-dovey with each other not too far away.

"Because there are people having picnic there!" Yoshi replied, pointing to some people who had laid mats onto the grass to eat snack.

"I think this is a good idea, Nodoka," Yue agreed. At the same time, she was drinking something called Tomato Milkshake Soda.

"I think this is a good idea," Kirby nodded. At the same time, he was potato chips.

"How about we arrange a date between you and Negi sensei right now?" Haruna suggested. "I'm sure he will be happy to go out with you!"

"How about we arrange a picnic with everyone else here right now?" Yoshi suggested. "I'm sure they'll agree to this!"

"But… We need to gather at the lobby after an hour to go to the museum…" Nodoka said. "We don't have time for this…"

"But we need to gather at the lobby after an hour to go to the museum," Lucario said. "We do not have the time for this."

"There's still time to kill, but if you insist, we'll find another better day then," Haruna said. "Since we are going to the museum, I think you can also have a date with him there too!"

"There's still time to kill, but if you insist, we'll find another better day then," Yoshi said. "We're having dinner somewhere too, right? We should save our empty stomachs for later!"

-

Time flew by in an instant and it was eventually two o'clock. The whole of Class 3-A were all gathered together at the lobby to get ready to go to the museum. Meanwhile, Gyde was still waiting for the Smashers to show up and gather at the lobby. "They sure are taking their time…" Gyde thought. "But I must be patient with tourists."

"Okay! Everyone is here, I assume?" Negi said to his students.

"Yes, Negi sensei!" they all replied.

"Then let's get on the bus and head for the museum! I hope everybody enjoys their time there!"

The class left the hotel and took off on the bus, but Gyde was still waiting for the others to arrive. Eventually, Mario and Luigi came over. "Sorry, we're late-a," Mario said.

"Oh, that's all right! I haven't waited long either!" Gyde said. "Are the others here yet?"

"I'm sure they'll come sooner or later," Luigi said.

-

Royal Castle of Lycia…

"So the Smashers have arrived at this country, right?" Roy asked his advisor.

"Yes, your majesty," the advisor. "They have arrived at twelve in the afternoon and Toor Gyde is currently acting as their guide. It seems that their travel plan is to head for the Museum of Lycia at two o'clock."

"If that's the case, I'll go over there at around that time to pay them a visit."

"I will go inform the museum of your arrival at once." And then the advisor took his leave to do his job.

"It's been a while since we met them," Lilina said to Roy. "I bet you're looking forward to this."

"Yeah, it's been quite a while already," Roy said with a smile. "Too bad they couldn't live in this castle."

"Yeah, that's the golden law passed down through generations. This royal castle is not for commoners like them to stay in, even if they are your close friends. The most you can do is to let them tour this place."

"That's what I plan to do someday during their one week stay. All right, let's get ready to go to the museum to meet them!"

-

Meanwhile, Class 3-A had already arrived at the museum and they traveled in groups while the museum guide brought them from exhibition to exhibition. The tour brought them to a large portrait that showed eight people squaring off against a large black dragon. "This picture looks neat!" Negi said. "Can you please tell us what this picture is about?"

"Sure, Mr. Springfield!" the guide said. "Ahem… This picture you are looking at now is portraying a great war that happened several thousands of years ago. The war was known as the Scouring and it was a great battle between dragons and humans."

"Ooooh…" the girls said with interest.

"It was said that dragons were once abundant within the continent of Elibe thousands of years ago and coexisted with humans peacefully. But for reason, relationship between both races grew worse and it turned eventually into a war. The eight warriors as seen on this portrait are the legendary warriors who not only brought an end to the war using legendary weapons, but were also founders of all the countries of Elibe. The dragon you see on this portrait is said to be the most powerful of all the dragons, Idoun the Dark Dragon. It was said that the warrior Hartmut was the one that struck down Idoun using the legendary Binding Blade."

"There's going to be a lot to write about for this trip report!" Kazumi said busy jotting down notes. "By the way, guide. You said the warriors stopped the dragons using legendary weapons, right? Do you know what happened to those weapons afterwards?"

"As for those weapons, they are sealed away within each of the countries of Elibe and they are there even until this day. The Binding Blade, however, is currently under King Roy's possession. If remember correctly, one of the weapons, the Durandal, is under the possession of a good friend of the king, so it's location is unknown currently."

-

Meanwhile, the bus that was carrying the Smashers had broken down on the middle of the street. "This bus stinks…" Wario grumbled.

Gyde desperately lowered his head towards the Smashers over and over and apologized to them for this. "I'm so sorry! I didn't expect the bus to break down at a time like this! Fear not; the bus will surely be fixed in the shortest time possible!"

The driver poked his head into the bus from the door and said, "Looks like it will take a while."

"Please hang in there, everyone! We will get it fixed in the shortest time possible! Please believe us!" Gyde said again.

"I think I'll take a look at this," said Captain Falcon, getting up from his seat.

"Please do not burden yourself!" Gyde said to him. "It is not right for the tourist to do labor like this!"

"You don't have to say that. I'm an expert when it comes to vehicles, so leave it to me to get this thing fixed in a jiffy!"

-

Back at the museum, the museum guide took the class towards a steel door that was across the place. "Next I'm going to take you to the most heavily secured place in this museum," the guide said. "Special permission must be required from the king in order to see this, but the king had specially told us to give permission to tourists to see this."

"What is it that you want to show us?" Negi asked him.

"You will see… It is a great evil that terrorize Lycia hundred of years ago…" the guide replied in a dark tone.

The guards opened up the large steel door and allowed the guide and the class, as well as an elderly woman and a little kid inside. Once inside, they walked down a long winding staircase that was rather dark. After a minute of walking down the stairs, they finally emerged in a large circular room with a display in the center. "What is that…?" Asuna asked.

"Ladies and gentlemen," the guide said, "I present to you the evil that once terrorized the country of Lycia many years ago, the Spirit of the Cruncher."

In the center of the room was a large glass container and on top of the podium that was inside it, there was a black sphere made of metal and it had a face drawn on it.

"The Spirit of the Cruncher…?" the girls said curiously.

"Yes, it is said that the spirit of a great monster is sealed inside this. Six hundred years ago, a large monster of unknown origins known as The Cruncher once terrorized Lycia. This monster was said to be invincible and nothing could stop it. However, a certain man showed up and finally put an end to this monster by extracting its spirit and then sealing it inside this container. Without its spirit, The Cruncher's body became nothing but an empty shell so it was basically dead."

"Amazing…" said the whole class.

As Negi looked at the Dark Spirit, Chamo said quietly to him, "Can you sense it, bro? The evil aura radiating from the Spirit of the Cruncher…"

"Yes, I can sense it…" Negi replied. "The aura… really is a horrible one… It's as if the spirit is trying to burst out."

"Nothing much is known about the person who defeated The Cruncher, but we only know that this person comes from a clan originating in Wales called Springfield."

The moment they heard this, the girls all turned their head to Negi, who had a surprised expression on his face. "Springfield…?" he said in unbelief. "My ancestors… were the one that sealed away… this monster's spirit?"

Meanwhile, the old lady and little kid were on the other side of the room looking at the Spirit of the Cruncher. The little kid snickered and then said to the old lady, "O Great Cackletta, do you think it is time that we unleash the evilness that is your plan?"

The old lady cackled and replied, "Yes, Fawful. It's about time we start doing what we are supposed to do here! Hehehehehe!"

TO BE CONTINUED

I wanted to add some more relaxing filler material (just to piss off those who don't like fillers) at the hotel part, but couldn't really think of any. Then I remembered that this story will have whole chapters dedicated to relaxation and pointlessness, so I'll save them for those chapters instead.