Wow! Already the last chapter? Well, this wasn't supposed to be that long, anyway. XD Oh, and just a little warning: there will be fluff in this chapter. Heart warming fluff.
Well, hey guys, I'm back! Enjoy your reading!
Chapter 4
A series of chewing sounded as the Duck Hung dog lay in front of the fireplace in the mansion's living room. He had on a fuzzy, blue dog sweater and was gnawing on a brand new chew toy he received from the Duck.
All of the Smashers were now gathered in the living room for the gift exchange. Everyone was talking to one another and moving about, handing and receiving many gifts. In the midst of it all, Pichu was busy ripping open a present she got from Lucina. Said swords woman was standing next to her along with Pikachu. After finally getting all of the wrapping paper off, the little electric-type got a good look and the fairly large box and gasped. Pichu's eyes glowed brightly in excitement.
"Holy sweet rain of Dittos." She said quietly, then shouted. "It's the brand new Deluxe Paintball Shooter Nine-thousand! I've been dying for one of these! Thanks so much, Lucina!"
Lucina gave a small chuckle. "I always heard you talking about it with the other children, so I figured I'd get it for you." Once seeing his little sister's gift, Pikachu's eyes widen and his ears lowered as he put on a forced smile, nervous sweat beads forming on his head.
"This is like, my best gift ever!" Pichu then snickered. "Now I gotta rub it in Toon Link's, Ness', and Bowser Jr's faces. Thanks again, Lucina. You're the best!" With that, she took off with her new paintball gun. Lucina was smiling warmly as she watched her go, but Pikachu's nervous smile now faded into a horrified look as he slowly turned and looked up at her. The swords woman noticed this and looked back at him.
"What?" She asked, completely clueless.
"...What have you done...?" The Pokemon replied quietly. Farther off, Snake and Little Mac stood together in a conversation.
"Is there a reason Peach gave us sweaters?" The boxer asked, looking at all the Smashers, who were indeed each wearing a Christmas sweater. "I don't mean to be rude, but this thing is kinda giving me a rash..."
"Peach always makes everyone a sweater on Christmas." Snake replied, then rubbed his chin in wonder. "But what I still don't understand is how she manages to get Bowser and Ganondorf to wear them." As if on cue, Peach passed by, walking quickly and searching through the crowd for someone. In her hands were three sweaters, one medium sized, and two small ones. Right behind her, Zelda and Samus were following.
"Oooh, were can they be?" The Mushroom princess said worriedly. "They have to be somewhere."
"Peach, who exactly are you looking for again?" Zelda asked curiously.
"Pit, Sonic, and Mega Man." Peach replied. "I haven't seen those three since Master Hand called us together."
"It is kinda weird, though." Samus admitted, crossing her arms. "Pit's always one of the first ones in the living room for the gift exchange. Seeing that he's late, along with Sonic and Mega Man, I'm willing to bet my powersuit that they destroyed something."
"Or," Zelda spoke up. "They could probably be finishing up with gifts they're going to give to someone. I'm sure they'll be here soon, Peach."
"Oh, okay." Peach said then raised up the three sweaters. "I just need to give them their sweaters. I know how much Pit likes ice cream, so I put a little snow design on his to remind him of it. I put an 'M' on Mega Man's to represent his name, and I even put a little bell on the neckline of Sonic's. Eeeee! They're all going to look so sweet!"
"Oh lord..." Samus groaned and rolled her eyes at the princess' words. The sound of footsteps approaching her caught her attention and she turned to see Captain Falcon walking up to her with Olimar clinging to his leg in a feeble attempt to stop him. What was off about the racer, though, were two burn marks shaped as gingerbread men on his face.
"Falcon, don't do it!" Olimar cried. "It's for the sake of your good health!" Captain Falcon only kicked him off his leg and stood in front of Samus.
"Ms Aran." He said softly. "I have brought my Christmas gift, to you." He then held the little mistletoe above them, closing his eyes and puckering his lips. Samus stared up at it with wide eyes, but then narrowed them into a death glare toward the racer, her hands clenching tightly into fists.
"Oh dear, not again." Zelda mumbled nervously. At the end of the living room, Dark Pit stood, leaning against the wall, watching the other Smashers exchange their gifts. Suddenly, a scream met his ears and Captain Falcon came flying out of the crowd, crashing into the wall next to him.
Dark Pit only sighed and shook his head. "Moron." He muttered. He then turned to one of the entrances of the halls and saw Pit slowly walking in with Sonic and Mega Man following after. The three had their eyes resting on the ground and a hurt atmosphere surrounded them. Dark Pit raised an eyebrow at them questioningly. "Where have you guys been?"
Pit glanced up at him, but looked away again. "Oh, we were just...preparing something." He mumbled quietly. This caused Mega Man to shuffle his feet and Sonic to rub the back of his head, guilt eating at them more. Just then, Peach had spotted the angel, robot, and hedgehog and quickly made her way toward them.
"Pit, Sonic, Mega Man!" She said cheerfully. "I've been looking all over for you three. Here, I have sweaters for you boys." She handed them their sweaters and the three looked at them, slightly embarrassed.
"Heh, thanks Peach." Sonic replied with a small smile.
"Um, Peach. Have you seen Lady Palutena?" Pit asked. "I...have my gift for her."
"Okay dear. I'll get her for you." The Mushroom princess then turned right around and called out rather loudly. "Oh Palutena! Pit has something he wishes to give you!" All the Smashers in the room stopped whatever they were doing and turned their attention to the little group at the sound of Peach's voice. Palutena, who was in a conversation with Rosalina, looked up when she heard her name. Bidding the princess farewell, she headed toward the group. The goddess then gave a smile once seeing the angel.
"Hello, Pit." She greeted. "You have something for me?" Fear clutched Pit's heart as he looked into her eyes, breathing quickly. This was it. There's no turning back. Now or never; he had to give it to her. The angel hesitated, not knowing what to say. All the Smashers watched on expectantly as Palutena now tilted her head, looking at him in slight confusion. Sonic and Mega Man waited as well, fear plastered on their faces for what was coming.
"L-Lady Palutena, I..." Pit started, but stopped. Closing his eyes tight and taking a deep breath, he held out the messed up Christmas cookie. At the sight of it, most of the Smashers silently winced while others tried to hold in their laughter. However, Wario wasn't one of them.
"Ah ha! AHAHAHAHAHAAA!" He bellowed. "Oh man, that's pitiful!" He continued to laugh loudly until Sheik, who was standing next to him, bashed the heal of her foot into his gut to shut him up.
"Oh jeez..." Dark Pit muttered, face-palming.
Palutena looked at the little cookie in surprise and took it in her hand. "Pit-"
"I-I wanted to give you something better." Pit interrupted, reopening his eyes. "I couldn't buy you anything, so I tried to bake you something; a dessert. Honestly, I did, but..." Tears were now starting to trickle down his cheeks and he lowered his head. "I wanted to give you a great gift, to make your first Christmas at Smash Bros special. But I...I'm so sorry, Lady Palutena. So sorry for embarrassing you."
Pit then turned to walk out of the living room, nothing but shame piercing his heart. But suddenly, a hand gently rested on his shoulder to stop him. He turned back around to see Palutena only smiling warmly at him.
"Oh, Pit." She said to him. "Don't be so ashamed. I love your gift." When the angel's eyes widen in shock, she continued. "You don't have to give me an amazing present to make me happy. Christmas isn't about big and fancy gifts. Showing care and love to your friends and family is what it truly means. I don't mind what kind of gift you give me, I'll always love it. Even if it's just a little messy cookie. Just knowing that you care enough to want to make this my best Christmas in Smash Bros, that's special enough for me. Thank you."
Pit's eyes were wide as saucers, not believing what he heard. But immediately, his disbelief melted into relief and pure joy, knowing that the goddess really did enjoy his gift. Giving a wide smile, he gave her a quick hug.
"You're welcome, Lady Palutena." He said quietly. "You don't know how happy I am to hear that you love it. But, I can't take all the credit. I had some help." Pit turned to face Sonic and Mega Man, who were now making their way toward them.
"Pit, we're sorry for screwing everything up." The blue bomber told him sincerely. "We just wanted to cheer you up and lend you a hand, but we only made things worse."
"Yeah, we feel really bad." Sonic agreed, then sighed. "And to tell the truth, I really don't know how to bake. Amy never showed me how. I just wanted to reassure you and give you hope."
"Really?" Pit asked.
"...Okay, it was also partly to show-off." Sonic admitted sheepishly, then gave a heartfelt grin. "But yeah, it was mostly to give you hope."
Pit now chuckled. "It's okay, guys. Like I said, you two only wanted to help, and I'm really grateful for that. Thank you guys."
"And thanks for the help on the gift." Palutena told them. Both Sonic and Mega Man lightly blushed in embarrassment.
"Ah, it was nothing." The hedgehog said passively. "We just mostly destroyed stuff and shouted at each other."
"Which reminds me. I think you two owe each other an apology." Pit told them, placing his hands on his hips. The two were silent as they blinked at the angel, then looked to each other. Finally, they fully faced each other.
"I'm sorry for ruining the sugar cookies, the gingerbread men, messing with the mixer, and mentioning your games." Sonic said. "You were right, I can be stubborn and hard to deal with. Plus, I kinda did start the whole bad luck streak."
"I'm sorry for questioning your skills and mentioning your fan-base." Mega Man replied. "I know then...outcome of the fruit cake was my doing. Next time, I should pay attention to what I'm doing, so I know if I did something wrong."
"Yeah, and besides, it's like what Palutena said. Christmas is about friendship, and friends shouldn't be fighting at this time."
"Especially if it's about stupid things, like who can bake and who can't."
Sonic grinned and held out his fist. "So we're good?"
Mega Man returned the grin and held his out as well, the two now doing a bro-fist. "We're good." While this entire scene was playing out, the Smashers had watched on, feeling moved to see the trio's problems now being resolved. Peach, out of all of them, could barely hold her excitment.
"Goodness, this is just so heart warming!" She said. "Come on, everyone. Let's enjoy the rest of our evening together." Everyone else nodded and mumbled in agreement, now resuming with their gift exchange.
(Page Break)
An hour and a half had now passed. The Smashers had delivered and received the last of their gifts then soent the redt of the evening spending quality time with friends. Now the sun was long gone from the sky and the snow-covered front yard glistened in the moonlight. On the mansion's front porch, Sonic, Mega Man, and Pit stood, looking at the shining snow, also now wearing Peach's sweaters. However, the hedgehog was looking at the little bell on his and flicking it, letting it ring.
"Y'know, this sweater ain't that bad." He finally said.
"Wow, guys." Pit spoke up, remembering the events of their entire day. "This was quite a day, huh?"
"Yeah, it was." Mega Man agreed. "Streesful, hectic, but then again, we also learned something valuable. I'll be remembering today for a long time, that's for sure."
"Couldn't agree more." Pit said, then looked up at the star-speckled sky. "And just knowing that I made Palutena's first Smash Bros Christmas special, by just a single Christmas cookie, I think this year's holiday will be a great one."
The three fell silent as they looked up at the stars, but then, Sonic put on a confused look. "Wait." He said. "Why do I feel like we're forgetting something?"
(Page Break)
Back in the living room, Pikachu sat on the couch, peacefully reading a book. All was quiet until a frightened scream sounded, making him jump. Link came running in from one of the hallways with some sort of green fruit cake clinging to his face.
"Get it off! Get it off! Sweet Nayru, someone get it OFF!" He shouted as he ran into another hall. Mario and Fox then showed up, following their friend.
"Hold on, Link!" The plumber called.
"Dang it, hold still so I can shoot it!" The pilot exclaimed. Pikachu watched as the two disappeared, processing what he just saw. Finally, he heaved a sigh and shook his head.
"This year's holiday will be a great one..." He muttered sarcastically.
THE END!
And there you have it! My very first fully completed Christmas story and my very first contest entry! *confetti*
Thank you all for reading and reviewing! I had fun writing this and I hope you all enjoyed it! Good luck to all the other contestants as well, with all your stories and may the best author win!
See you all later and have a Merry Christmas! ^_^
Warrior Kitty, out!