Gamer4 in. And, yet again, I have nothing to say.

Disclaimer: I have yet to own Warriors or Smash Bros. I only own Taebus, and since he's not in this chapter...

Chapter 19

Bad and Worse

The next morning, when Mario woke up, it was to find that Luigi and Graystripe were already awake. "What's going on?" he asked as he stood up.

"We were just waiting for you and Firestar to wake up," Luigi answered. "Then we were going to go to breakfast."

As they spoke, Firestar himself stood up slowly. "What's happening?" he asked, apparently still half-asleep.

"Nothing yet," Graystripe answered. "Though from what we've seen around here, that's probably going to change as soon as we leave this room."

"You're probably right," Luigi said. "But honestly, what's the worst that could happen?"

"Last time you said that," Mario said, looking at him, "Bowser invaded the Star Festival, kidnaped Peach, and took her into the center of the Universe. And the time before that, Bowser kidnaped her when we went on a walk around Dinosaur Island. And the time before that-"

"Okay, okay, I get the point!" Luigi shouted. "Never say stuff like that."

"That's a general rule around here," Mario said to Firestar and Graystripe. "Never, never, never say stuff like 'What's the worst that could happen?' It will jinx you, and something terrible will happen. Let's just hope that whatever Luigi just jinxed us with, it's not too bad." With this, he stepped out the door of the room.

As soon as he did, Zelda ran up to him. "Mario, do you remember what Master Hand said about checking my room to see if Scourge took anything?"

"Yeah," Mario said. "Why?"

"He did take something," she said. "That spell I was trying to bring Midna here with, the one that brought Firestar and Graystripe here. It's missing."

"It was definitely Scourge?" Mario asked. "You're sure?"

"Who else would it be?" Zelda asked.

"Did you tell the Master Hand?"

"Not yet, I was just stopping by to tell you. I'm going to tell him now."

"Then go. See you later."

As she left, Mario stepped back inside. "Did you hear that, Luigi?"

"No, what?"

"Scourge took the spell that Zelda accidentally brought Firestar and Graystripe to life with," Mario said. "That's the kind of stuff I was talking about!"

"Well, it can't get much worse than that," Luigi said.

"Last time you said that, Bowser got a thousand times bigger than he normally is after we dropped him into a pit of lava, and came after us shooting fireballs the size of minivans! You never say stuff like that!"

"I wonder what he set up now?" Firestar commented.

"I guess we'll see!" Mario said, still shouting.

"You don't want to hold yourself back like that, Mario," Graystripe said dryly. "There might be a couple of Windclan warriors who didn't hear you loud and clear."

"I thought Riverclan was further," Luigi said.

"No, Riverclan is between us and Windclan."

"I thought it was the other way around?"

"No, that's only at the lake," Mario said, looking at him.

"What lake?" Firestar asked.

"Never mind," Mario answered. "Never mind. Come on, let's go down to breakfast."

Firestar and Graystripe looked at him weird, but went down anyways.

XXXX

Back in the kitchen, they found Sonic eating at the table. None of the other smashers were there, except for Master Hand reading a newspaper at the head of a table. There wasn't a weirder sight than a giant, gloved hand not attached to an arm, reading the newspaper. The four sat down next to Sonic.

"Hey, guys," Sonic said, looking at them. "What's going on?"

"Nothing," Mario said. "Sorry about pulling that gun on you last night."

"It's all good. Hey, did you hear, Taebus is coming back soon."

"That reminds me of something," Firestar said. "I had a dream with Taebus in it last night."

"Actual dream or Starclan dream?" Mario asked.

"It wasn't a normal dream," Firestar said. "Taebus told me something about Scourge..."

They all listened as he told them what Taebus had told him. He left Spottedleaf out. He felt that her information was more for him and Graystripe. As he finished, he said, "And there was one more thing, I can't remember exactly what, but it was something about hedgehogs."

"Probably something to do with me," Sonic said. "So that guy Master Hand was talking about is teaming up with Tabuu?"

"That's what is sounds like," Graystripe said.

"Well, Master Hand needs to know about that," he said, and left to tell him.

"Why did you pull a gun on him again?" Luigi asked.

"One word," Mario said. "Racetrack."

"Ah, now I remember," Luigi said. "Speaking of which, I have to ask, I wonder if Firestar and Graystripe will be getting behind the wheel of any cars soon?"

"You asked that already," Firestar said. "And I think I speak for me and Graystripe- " he looked at Graystripe, who nodded, "when I say, the answer's the same. We'll race in one of those things when hedgehogs fly."

"I'll take you up on that," Luigi said.

"Whatever that means," Firestar said, looking at him weirdly again.

"Whatever what means?" a voice said. They turned to see Master Hand floating behind them.

"Nothing," Luigi answered.

"Well, whatever," Master Hand said. "I probably don't want to know. Anyways, I have a bit of bad news."

"How bad could it be?" Luigi asked.

"Stop saying that," Mario said, looking over at him. "You just set it up."

"This is what he 'set up,'" Master Hand said. "I was reading the paper, and I found out that a man was found dead down an alley. He'd been shot in the leg and the heart."

"What does that have to do with us?" Mario asked.

"He also had five long cuts on his arm, left by claws. There was also a picture of a black cat with the words 'Black cats are bad luck' written across it. You understand what I'm saying?"

"Scourge?" Mario asked.

"You got it," Master Hand said. "I'm not sure, but the evidence points that way. The picture, the words, and, of course, the marks."

"Why would Scourge do it though?" Luigi asked. "What did he gain from it?"

"The same thing he gained from killing Tigerstar," Firestar said. "Respect, and the fear of anyone who finds out about it."

"Well, then why not say right out that it was him?" Luigi asked. "Why leave a picture of a cat with an old superstition written on it?"

"Not something I want to think about right now," Master Hand said. Looking up, he added, "Not that I have to, right now. It's time for Sonic's brawl with Wario."

That's all for now. Thanks to everyone who's supporting this story. Please R&R. Just please don't flame. Flames are bad. Constructive criticism, however, is fine.