Samus woke up early. She sat up and stretched, taking a moment to appreciate the nice sleep. Raindrops hit her window. She wasn't sure she had ever seen it rain in all of her time at the mansion. Shrugging it off, she got up and decided to check the brawl schedule before showering.
She stepped into the hall, seeing Lucario walk by her as he headed for his room at the end of the mini hallway. He nodded as he passed, which Samus returned. She made for the Transporter Room. Glancing down the list she saw her name wasn't under any time slot. Surprisingly, she that there was a brand new Schedule Sheet. There was only one time slot on the paper. It said at 2:00 Sonic and Diddy would brawl. Nobody else had matches today, but the one brawl had a notice that all it was mandatory for all other fighters to Spectate on the match.
Confused, Samus went back into the hall and headed for the dining room, hoping the others would have an explanation for the sudden change in scheduling. As she passed through the lobby, she saw Pikachu staring out the front doorway. Pikachu turned around at the sound of her footsteps. He seemed anxious, ear down and a slight crouch in his posture.
"Feel like something isn't right here?" Samus asked him. Pikachu nodded. "Me too. I hope it's nothing. Is everybody getting breakfast?" Pikachu trotted over to Samus. He looked up at her and nodded.
Samus gave the mouse a small smile, hoping to raise his spirits a little. Unfortunately, it was to no avail. "Let's go join them."
Samus began walking down the hall and noticed Pikachu was staying right by her legs, not wanting to go off on his own. She stopped and kneeled down. Pikachu gave her a confused look and Samus smiled, opening her arms for him. He hopped into her arms, appreciatively. Peach was right.
The two entered the kitchen. Most people were there, only a few faces missing. They were all discussing what could be meant by the schedule change. Samus saw the tables were lengthened again. Seated there was Peach, Zelda, Nana, Popo, Link, Pit, Ike, and Red. They all had food, but it didn't seem like anyone had eaten very much. Samus walked to the last available seat beside Peach, letting Pikachu stay on her lap.
"Hi Samus." Peach said, being as cheerful as she could given the circumstances. Everybody else gave similarly pensive greetings.
"Hello everyone. Are you talking about the schedule?" Samus asked.
"Yes." Zelda nodded. "We're trying to figure it out."
"Talk about bizarre!" Ike said, noticeably annoyed. "Out of the blue like that. What's the Hand's game?"
Pit patted him on the shoulder. "No need to become angry from something confusing you."
Ike sat back with a grimace, arms folded. "Yeah, sure…"
"He brings up a good question, though." Red said.
"Yeah, why did Master Hand make such a sudden change?" Link asked. "And is there a reason for it being Diddy and Sonic to fight in the match?"
The group turned to the table of Diddy, Donkey Kong, Sonic, Marth, and Toon Link. Sonic seemed virtually distraught while the others discussed. Diddy was just quietly eating a banana.
"And why does he need all of to watch?" Popo threw in.
"Right after lunch too!" Nana added. "To guarantee we'll all be together before they fight."
"This is the first time he's done something like this." Samus mentioned. Link nodded. Only she and Link had been there for all three Smash events.
"I hope everything is ok…" Peach mulled to herself.
"Damn it!" Ike yelled, throwing his hands on the table, making everybody's dishes rattle. "It's like he did this on purpose! Just when everything is going good for us!"
"I really wish he would tell us why he's changing everything." Pit said, staring down at his plate.
Pikachu curled up even more in the bounty hunter's arms. There was a long silence as the group became lost in their thoughts. Then Samus spoke up.
"It's raining outside."
They all looked at her. "So? It's only a little rain." Link said.
She looked at the group. "Have you ever known the weather here to be anything but sunny?"
The 10 of them all turned and looked out the window.
"Now that you mention it…" Peach murmured.
"You think Master Hand has something to do with it?" Red asked.
"I don't see why he wouldn't." Ike said, eyes closed and arms folded. "Stupid thing controls everything else in this building."
"Yeah." Zelda said, nodding. "So then why would he change the weather at the same time as the schedule?"
There was a brief pause before Nana quietly said, "Something bad is going to happen, isn't it?"
Everybody looked at each other, all shifting nervously.
Link stood up. "Well! I'm stuffed!" Looking at his plate, you could see that he hadn't even taken a bite from it. "Who want's to go watch TV? You know, something to fill in the quiet moments?"
Zelda was the first to stand up with him; she smiled and grabbed his hand and the two walked to the lobby. The rest slowly joined, following the Hyruleans. Samus stayed back for a moment with Pikachu.
She looked at the yellow mouse, who was still a bit shaken. Samus thought he may have a level of animalistic instinct that told him something was coming.
Not again… She thought.
Samus was worried the day would drag on. However, it turns out the opposite was true. The day zoomed by until the inevitable match began. At 2:00, everybody gathered in the Spectator Room, but not before wishing both Diddy and Sonic luck.
Samus sat between Zelda and Peach in the middle row of chairs. The room was filled. Although it was written that spectating was mandatory, she was still surprised to see Snake, Wolf, Lucario, Bowser, Ganondorf, and Meta Knight. People were quietly chatting, just waiting for the match to begin.
All of a sudden, the viewers heard a voice coming from the Transporter Room next to them. It must've been Master Hand's voice coming from a loudspeaker of sorts. Something seemed off about it though. It was ominous and message was clearly only meant for the fighters, but its volume made it impossible for the rest to ignore.
"ATTENTION COMBATANTS." The voice rang out. "THIS MATCH WILL BE A SINGLE STOCK MATCH. THERE WILL BE NO TIME LIMIT. SMASH BALLS WILL BE THE ONLY ITEMS SUPPLIED DURING THE MATCH. FIGHT WITH ALL OF YOUR STRENGTH. YOU WILL NOW BE TRANSPORTED TO FINAL DESTINATION."
The group all turned to the screens. The countdown began, Diddy and Sonic materializing on the stage.
As "GO!" was yelled, Sonic ran right for Diddy. As he rolled at the chimp, Diddy, jumped over his opponent, peanut popgun in hand. He shot at Sonic, hitting the blue blur in the back of the head. Diddy threw a banana peel in front of Sonic, but it was easily avoided. Sonic ran up to the Kong and swung a kick at his face. Upon making contact, Diddy flew though the air. He was able to pull of his jetpack, and launch himself at Sonic.
Sonic jumped back and did an eagle dive kick at Diddy. Diddy took a step back, just narrowly dodging it, and swum around hitting the hedgehog with his tail.
As the fighting continued, the crowd watched silently.
What happens to the loser? Samus wondered. She assumed everybody else was wondering the same thing. There's so much tension for just one match.
Peach turned to Samus and Zelda. "Why am I so scared?" She asked, fear visibly penetrating her usually bright demeanor. Samus grabbed her hand and gave a little smile.
"It's ok Peach." Zelda said. "We all are."
The three turned back to the fight.
Both fighters were breathing pretty heavily. The hits were becoming harder and harder to recover from. Then, the Smash Ball appeared. Both saw it and immediately began going for it. They both jumped in the air, but Diddy thrusted both of his legs at Sonic, sending him in the opposite direction. Fortunately, the Smash Ball changed it's direction and it met up with Sonic. He did a mid air spin, shattering the item.
Energy began flowing through Sonic, to the point of it radiating off of him. Terror struck Diddy as the 7 Chaos Emeralds appeared around Sonic. The hedgehog smirked at the chimp, then yelled, "Now I'll show you!"
A light exploded around Sonic and he emerged as his gold Super Sonic form. His red eyes looked straight at Diddy, he flew forward, and smashed right into his opponent. Diddy flew off the platform, a ray of light shooting from the barrier set. GAME! was yelled, signifying the end of the match.
Instead of the screen going black as it should've by now, it stayed white. Then, Diddy's fighter picture appeared on the screen. Below the picture were the words,
Diddy Kong:
ELIMINATED
The spectators stared at the screen for a few seconds before Ike yelled, "Oi! What the hell do you mean eliminated?!"
Sonic came into the room, panting. "Guys, Diddy didn't come back with me." He saw the screen and asked, "What does that mean? Eliminated?"
Falco stood up. "Hey, Hand! Where'd you put the monkey!?"
Donkey Kong stood up and screamed at the screen. He jumped in front of all of the chairs and tried smashing the screen. After a few failed attempts, DK charged out of the room, almost trampling Sonic.
Pit got up. "Come on! We have to make sure he doesn't destroy everything! Or hurt himself!"
The others all got up. Some charged out the door, others were more content to hang back and see how the events would unfold. Samus was one of the first out into the hall. She ran towards the lobby. When she arrived, she saw the front door had been smashed. DK was out on the sidewalk facing the house, looking up. The group ran out to the ape, who didn't seem to be paying any attention to them. They all stood outside with him, just past the broken glass from the entryway.
"Donkey Kong! Please calm down!" Peach called out.
"And get out of the rain!" Link called out.
"Come back in the Mansion!" Fox yelled.
Amidst everyone's yells to Donkey Kong, Samus noticed something bizarre about his behavior.
Why isn't he paying attention to any of us? She thought to herself. Then she turned around and looked at the roof.
Samus gasped, then backed up until she was right beside DK.
"Samus?" Peach said.
"Look…" Samus said, pointing to the roof.
A few of them walked over to her and followed where she pointed. Even the stragglers were interested in what she was gesturing at. There, everybody saw what DK had been focusing on.
There on the roof, hovering about the chimney, was a man. Or, rather, what appeared to Samus to be the shape of a man. He was hunched over arms folded. He was a transparent teal color. He had no discernible eyes, yet she knew he was staring right at the group. There was something in his chest, something that was an opaque pink color.
"Who the hell are you?!" Ike demanded.
"Diddy Kong has been eliminated from the Mansion." It responded, in the same haunting robotic voice heard before the match.
"What do you mean by eliminated?" Captain Falcon asked.
"He will not return. He was defeated and thus has been eliminated." It responded.
"Who are you supposed to be?" Wolf asked, clearly threatened by this new presence.
"I am Tabuu."
"Taboo? What the hell, are we not supposed to talk about you or something?" Ike yelled.
"You misunderstand." Tabuu responded.
"Well, then tell us what's going on!" Red yelled. The fighters all began yelling at their visitor.
"Where's Master Hand?" Link asked.
"Bring Diddy back!" Mario screamed.
"Come down here and fight us!" Snake yelled.
Samus stood silently among all of the yelling voices. She was trying to make sense of what was going on.
"You guys." Samus said, but made little noise over the crowd. "Everyone! Quiet down!" Still, no results.
Then, Ganondorf charged up a Warlock Punch and smashed it into the ground. The shockwave shaking the ground, plus the loud crack of the ground made everything go dead silent except for the steady fall of the rain. Ganondorf nodded for Samus to continue.
Samus, slightly shocked, obliged. "I think Master Hand's gone."
"You are correct Samus Aran." Tabuu said.
"What's going on? Tell us everything!" Mario yelled.
"Very well." Tabuu began, never changing his position. "I am the being Tabuu. I have come to your dimension after millennia of observing. I have ridded the Mansion of its previous owner. You knew him as the Master Hand. He is of little importance. Relative to other fights I have made note of, the matches occurring in this Mansion are of a chaotic and unordered manner. I have come to bring order. An order that has been needed."
"What do you mean? What order?" Fox asked.
"Previously, matches were assembled in a random fashion." His voice brought a chill down Samus' spine. "Winning and losing were of no relevancy. There was nothing to gain or lose, fighting was occurring for no reason. I will let that continue no longer. I have come to the conclusion that there shall only be one brawl a day. There will only be two competitors per match with the same ruleset used in the match you have just witnessed. The loser of a match will be eliminated, never to return."
"What kind of order is that?" Link yelled. Samus backed up behind the everyone else.
"Think of it as incentive." Tabuu said.
"Incentive to what?" Wario asked.
"To think only of fighting." Tabuu said. "Do not distract yourself."
"Distract ourselves with what? Friends? Happiness?" Pit yelled.
"Call it what you wish." Tabuu said. "I have answered all questions of apposite topics. I will speak with you again as necessary." With that, Tabuu slowly faded away until he was gone completely.
"Necessary for us? Or for you?!" Snake yelled.
"So we won't get to see Diddy again?" Nana asked.
Zelda grabbed her hand, head bowed. "I'm afraid not, Nana…"
Everybody just stood in the rain, registering what they had just been told.
"I'm so sorry…" Samus said. She was hanging her head, letting her bangs cover her face.
"Samus?" Peach asked, slowly walking towards her friend.
"This is my fault. This is what happens when I get close to people. I warned myself. I warned you. This was always going to happen." Samus lifted her head. She was stone faced, but they could see the tears pouring from her eyes, then blending in with the rain. "Once again my presence is tearing people apart. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have gotten in over my head."
Samus walked through the group. She stepped over the glass and just made for her room, as the others stood there, speechless.