Since I've not updated for so long, here's a treat: a two chapter update! They're both short-ish, but the quality should still stand alongside that of previous chapters (I hope).

Disclaimer: It is a "dis"claimer for a reason; I am not, in any way, shape, or form, claiming to have any sort of ownership of Super Smash Bros. Or, in short: ME NO OWN ANYTHING.

"Link, remind me again why we're doing this and not the caretakers?"

It was a cool fall day. The sky was clear and blue, and the occasional breeze ruffled the grass and trees of the field surrounding the Smash Mansion. Link, Marth, Ike, Pit, and Red were all outside at the request of their superiors, taking part in yard care and general cleaning.

"No idea," Link shrugged in response to Marth's question, leaning on his rake. "All Mr. Cameron really said to me after handing me this rake was, 'go clean up the yard, and get your blue-haired friends to help you.'"

"I think he thinks that it'll keep us out of trouble," Ike commented as he raked stray leaves into a low pile. Satisfied, he stepped back. "There, it's perfect. Go at it, Marth!"

"Right."

Marth restarted the push mower and, holding down the swinging handle to prevent the motor from shutting off automatically as models such as this one would do in the event the handle swung upward, drove it straight through the pile of foliage. Leaves he stirred up billowed about him in a brown, orange, and gold cloud, and once he'd passed through the whole pile a clean-cut, leaf-free strip of grass was exposed.

Initially, the boys had each started out with a rake, but since they also had to mow the lawn and raking leaves into a bag can be rather hard, Marth had come up with the ingenious idea of using the lawnmower to not only cut the grass, but to also shred and pick up the leaves along with the sheared off bits of lawn. It was really quite efficient.

"Hey, Marth, my pile's ready now!" Link called out.

Marth heard him and, after a fair amount of difficulty turning the mower around, drove through Link's leaf pile with much the same result as when he drove through Ike's. The crackle of dry leaves filled the air and the rev of the lawnmower drowned out most other noise.

After several more piles had been sufficiently mowed and the sun approached its apex, Link requested Marth swap jobs with him.

"Raking is getting difficult," the Hylian complained, "and that mower looks easy to push."

"Fine," Marth complied. He let go of the lawnmower handle; the swinging bar flipped up and the motor shut off.

As Marth bent to pick up Link's rake from where the blond had dropped it, a wild battle cry split the air, and following it was a dull, muffled thwump.

The pattern repeated itself several more times before stopping, and Ike asked incredulously, "What on earth is that?"

"I don't know," Marth intoned slowly, cobalt eyes narrowing, "but I'm going to find out." He set off at a brisk pace, Ike and Link jogging to keep up.

As they rounded the back of the Smash Mansion, they came upon a strange sight: a thick, forty foot cable was strung taut across the field, from a small hook protruding from the stuccoed back wall of the mansion to a tall, strong, and solid tree in the middle of the field. The cable was also a good twenty-five feet off the ground, with large floor rugs draped over it. A small trampoline stood on the ground about fifteen feet from the cable and rugs. Near to that were Pit and Red, both holding baseball bats, bent over and panting slightly.

Pit was the first to raise his head and notice the new arrivals as they jogged up to him. "Oh, hi!" he greeted.

"Hi. What might you be up to?" Marth queried, stopping and eyeing the bat.

Pit grinned. "This."

The angel walked off down the field. When he got to about thirty meters away from the others, he stopped and turned to face the hanging rugs. Then, he shot off, running full tilt, and then leaped into the air, flapping his wings powerfully to gain height. He raised the bat over his head.

"Yaaaaaah!"

With all the force and momentum he could muster, Pit slammed the bat into the rug. A huge cloud of dust erupted, obscuring Pit from view until he touched down.

"That," he panted, "is what I've been up to."

"Well," Link expressed, "that basically explains the weird noises we could hear. But what's the trampoline for?"

"Me!" Red piped up. "I need to get air, but I can't fly, so I use that."

"Oh. Can I try?"

"Sure!" Red handed the Hylian the bat. "Go for it."

Link took the bat and swung it like a sword, getting a feel for its weight. Satisfied, he walked off to about where Pit had been before he had charged at the rugs. Link gauged the distances, trying to determine the best spot from which to jump at the trampoline; then, without much thought as to what he would do after he got in the air, he ran.

The ground thundered under his feet as he sprinted. He jumped on to the trampoline; the woven nylon fabric sank under his weight, and, in the blink of an eye, launched him back into the air. Link found himself moving far too fast. The rug was quickly approaching, and before he could even think about lifting the bat, Link smashed headlong into the carpet.

The force with which he hit it caused the rug to slip off the cable, and both it and Link ended up in a heap on the grass. Ike, Marth, Red, and Pit all ran over to it and began to pull it off Link, who was curled up on the ground. The great majority of the rug was underneath him.

As Ike began to gently pull the rug out from beneath him, Link moaned pitifully.

Marth knelt on the ground beside his friend. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Link grunted, rolling off the rug now so Ike could effectively pick it up. "The carpet broke my fall." He made to stand up, but only got halfway before falling back on the ground. "Damn…that was a dumb move."

"I'm glad you noticed without me having to tell you," Marth said nonchalantly.

"Pfft."

"It gets easier as you do it more," Red began to explain. "You have to plan the whole sequence of motion out before you even start. And, when you land, it helps to run off the excess momentum, or to roll." He paused. "Maybe I should've mentioned that before."

Link looked at the trainer, clearly annoyed. "You think?"

Ike changed the subject. "Link, can you get up now?"

"I think so."

Slowly, Link rose to a crouch, and from there to a full standing position. He seemed steady once more, much to the relief of his friends.

"Good," smiled Marth. "Now, let's go finish up our yard cleaning!"

By the time all five boys were finished, it was late and the sun was nothing more than a glowing red line on the horizon. Tired, and Link still smarting from his fall, they entered the Smash Mansion front doors only to run straight into Mr. Cameron.

Link got very angry. "What the hell did you make us do all that for?" he screamed. "And don't you tell me you have MORE for us to do! I swear I will cast-"

Marth stepped in; he knew exactly what Link was planning on saying, what Mr. Cameron's reaction was likely to be, and how much he really did not want to witness that. Purposely bumping into the Hylian to cut him off, Marth said politely, "Hello, Mr. Cameron. We finished our yard work, so if it's alright with you, we'll all go to bed now."

"That's perfectly alright with me," Mr. Cameron responded with a nod, "but I am hoping you will all stay up a little longer."

"What for?" Ike asked.

Mr. Cameron said nothing, and walked off toward the cafeteria. The boys followed.

"Your reward," Mr. Cameron said when as he opened the cafeteria doors. There, on a table, was a collection of wonderful things: all the food one can think of, from fruit and vegetables to pasta and sandwiches to meat of all kinds and to cake. The smashers's eyes grew wide as they took it all in.

"I am given to understand that none of you have eaten yet today," Mr. Cameron continued, "so I had the kitchen staff prepare this for you."

The brawlers said nothing. After hurried shouts of "Thank you!" from Pit and Red, the five boys attacked the table. Mr. Cameron smiled, and left quietly.

When the food was all gone, and the five boys were fuller than they had ever been before, they headed off to sleep without so much as a word, too tired and happy and full to do much more. It had been a good day.

The leaf-eating-lawnmower idea that is said to be Marth's is actually my dad's. A while ago, he asked me to come outside and, while he blew the fallen leaves out on to the grass with a leaf blower, my job was to mow them over with our lawnmower (which is a push one. No fancy riding things for us, no sir!). The task wasn't too difficult, but since the wheels aren't on an axel, the thing is really damn hard to turn (you basically have to reverse and go forward making slight turns each way ad nauseam until you face the direction you want to go in), and the wind would blow the leaves all over the place and I would literally have to run after them since there was no one with a rake to keep them under control. Sigh. In any case, it was fun, and inspired this snippet.

Oh, and the rug bit? That was just random.