So, the closer Samus comes to the others, the less I need to show what she's thinking. She can just talk to them, instead of thinking everything out in her head. Just wanted to say that, in case you were wondering if the story is becoming more dialogue heavy.
Zelda ran to the Transporter room. As Link stepped out, he smiled at her. She ran to him and threw her arms around his neck. He wrapped his arms around her
"Hey, you can't get rid of me that easily." He said, stroking her back.
Samus, Peach, Ike, Pit, and the Ice Climbers came out of the Spectator Room to join them. Zelda let go of Link, wiping her eyes. He smiled at the group.
"Cutting it a bit close there, eh?" Ike said, smirking.
"Figured I could put on a bit of a show." Link replied, same silly grin.
Zelda nudged him, with a small smile. "Don't joke about that."
"Sorry about that." He replied. Link looked back at the other transporter. It was empty and inactive, Lucario wasn't coming back. Link sighed. "It's a different feeling when you're the reason they're not coming back."
"You know that's not your fault." Zelda said.
"No, I know." Link said, nodding.
"Doesn't make it any easier though." Ike said, rubbing the back of his head.
"We're still glad you made it." Samus said.
Link smiled at her. "Thanks Sam."
"Who fights next?" The bounty hunter asked.
"We'll find out in about a half hour." Pit told her. "Tabuu keeps the three daily matches close together."
"That seems like agony." Samus commented
"It's both good and bad." Popo said.
"Yeah. Once one match starts, you're worried until the three are done for the day. But at least they get over with quicker." Nana added. "There's a little good to it."
"Yeah, that thing is a saint, ain't he?" Ike said, walking out of the Transporter Room, prompting the others to follow. The group went into the lobby, walking to the couches. "I've been thinking about this place. What happens if we just don't fight?"
Everybody sat down. Link and Zelda shared a couch. Popo, Nana, and Peach shared another, as did Samus, Pit, and Ike with the last one.
"What do you mean?" Pit asked.
"Yeah, Tabuu doesn't technically need a Transporter to send us to a battlefield, we can't avoid fighting." Popo said.
Ike shook his head. "Not what I meant. Yeah, we'll get sent there…"
"But what if we just don't fight?" Link asked. Ike nodded.
"Just stand there?" Peach asked.
"What you do doesn't matter, as long as it's not fighting or dying." Ike told them.
"There's no way Tabuu would allow it." Pit said.
"It's actually not a bad thought." Samus said. "Given that Tabuu has near omnipotent power over the Mansion, you'd think he could stop us. And he probably could, but he wouldn't want to. What he wants to see is a fight. If we don't move, he doesn't get one. Knowing him, he probably has the power to control our bodies, at least while we're on the battlefield. But if he does, he's not getting the fight he wants to see. He's not seeing the brawling order he wants from us."
"He'd be making some kind of choreographed dance." Pit said, thinking about the idea. "Taking all chance out of the matches."
"It's a thought." Zelda said. "But we're also assuming that Tabuu has a problem with controlling us. He had no qualms with taking over the Mansion, taking things into his own hands isn't exactly a foreign concept."
"And maybe it's exactly what he plans to do eventually." Link added.
"I don't think so." Samus shook her head. "There'd be no point in making a tournament out of this place if that was his plan." She motioned towards Pit. "You had a good point. There'd be no chance. It's almost as if Tabuu is gambling on this whole takeover. Maybe he is thinking about taking the victor with him when he leaves. Whatever the cause, a tournament isn't the most sensible way to slowly take over manual fighting itself."
Ike scoffed. "Yeah, cuz he's sensible. That thing's a moron if you ask me."
"Hey now." Peach said, speaking up. "We may not like him, but we can't deny that he's intelligent… Well, he's smart, maybe not intelligent."
"Those are the same." Nana said.
"Not inherently." Zelda told the pink clad girl. "Generally, smart implies one is good at learning and remembering. Intelligence implies that you can learn and understand, in order to apply that which is learned and understood."
Nana stared at the Hyrulean princess blankly. "I"m confused."
"That's why she has the Triforce of Wisdom." Link said, smirking.
"How does wisdom go in there?" Popo asked.
"This isn't important!" Ike yelled. "But Peach is right. I shouldn't underestimate Tabuu, none of us should. That thing is all seeing in this mansion, I think Samus is right about his motives. It must have something to do with who comes out on top."
"All seeing?" Popo said. "Are we forgetting that he could be watching us right now?"
"Are you forgetting that I don't give a damn?" Ike said, irritated. Nana slunk back in her seat, hurt.
"Ike, calm down." Peach said, getting annoyed at the swordsman.
Ike grunted, but looked at Nana and said, "Sorry kid. I didn't mean to snap."
Pit forward. "See Nana, the thing is he probably always is watching us. We just can't afford not to talk to each other though. Even if he hears everything we plan, it's still better to share our ideas and build them with each other than to just fester on our own thoughts and lose each other."
"Ok…" Nana said
"HEAR THAT, YOU BLUE ASS? YOU'RE GOING DOWN!" Ike stood up and yelled.
"Ike, really!" Peach yelled. "There's no need to be childish!"
"Gahhh!" Ike said, slumping down in his seat and folding his arms.
"Going back to your plan, though…" Samus began. "We should try it. What will he do if nobody fights on a fighting ground?"
"One way to find out!" Link said. "And we have a few minutes until we can. Whoever gets chosen, we have to find them right away. If it's not one of us, we'll have to tell them our plan and hope they agree to help."
"Shouldn't be too hard." Pit said, smirking. "Even if we don't get along here, everybody can agree that we hate Tabuu."
"I have a question." Samus said, getting serious. They all turned to her. "I can't be the only one wondering. What will we do if two of us have to fight each other?"
Everybody got silent for a few moments.
"No, you aren't the only one thinking about that." Peach said.
"I'm guessing we've all had it cross our minds." Pit said.
"But we don't have to wonder until we see how this goes." Link said, looking more determined. "We could avoid the problem all together this way."
Samus smiled. "Right."
"THE NEXT MATCH IS ABOUT TO BEGIN."
Tabuu's electronically somber voice echoed throughout the Mansion.
"WILL THE COMBATANTS —LUIGI — AND — ICE CLIMBERS — PREPARE TO FIGHT."
Popo and Nana both got struck with terror. They held each other in a fearful death grip of a hug.
Ike turned to the twins and gave them melancholic smirk. "Time to shine, guys."
"Let's go find Luigi!" Pit said, standing up. "Peach, Link, Zelda, and Ike, you guys check the cafeteria. Popo, Nana, Samus, the four of us will try his room."
"Give the guy an army of angels and he starts leading everybody." Link said, smirking.
"Shut up." Zelda said, smiling. "Sounds good Pit."
Everybody stood up and headed for their destinations. Samus's group all went down the left hallway. She looked back at the Ice Climbers who were slowly tagging along, holding hands and looking only at the ground. She tapped Pit on the shoulder. When he turned around, she gestured her head to the kids. Pity filled the angel's face. He stopped walking and crouched down to their eye level.
"Hey guys." Pit said, getting their attention. "It's going to be ok. You'll be coming back."
Popo looked at him with a scared face. "You don't know that."
Nana's eyes were tearing up. "Yeah. You haven't been in a match, how would you know?"
Pit grew a pitying smile. "I haven't been to the sun either. But I know you shouldn't go there."
Samus smiled at the angel's warmth towards the brother and sister.
The Ice Climbers looked at Pit. He smiled back. "And don't tell Peach I said this, but Luigi's a pushover. You guys can take him easily." Popo gave a small smile and Nana giggled. "So smile. Put on a brave face!"
The two seemed to perk up a little, nodding to their friend.
"Great! Now let's go find us a plumber!" The angelic warrior said, standing up.
Pit began walking for Luigi's room again. Samus watched him, smiling. When he heard no one following him, Pit turned around. "You coming Samus?"
She shook herself out of her thoughts. "Oh, yeah. Yeah, I'm coming." As they were walking, the twins began talking about all of the moves they could do if they needed to fight. Pit looked over to Samus.
"Everything ok?" Pit asked. "You seemed a bit out of it."
Samus nodded. "Everything's fine. That was amazing how you were able to cheer them up so easily. It's such a frightening situation but you made them feel better. It was great." She smiled at him.
Pit chuckled a little. "Thanks, but it really wasn't anything big. I just told them everything I'd want to hear in that situation."
"Still, it was very sweet and noble." Samus laughed. "Of course, I wouldn't expect any less from an Angel Knight."
Pit looked at her. "I don't think I've ever heard you laugh."
Samus stopped smiling, feeling self conscious. "Oh… It's not like I never do."
Pit suddenly realized what he had said. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that! I just meant it was nice hearing your laugh."
She smiled. "Thank you."
"Where are you guys going?" Popo called. The two looked back and saw they had passed Luigi's room. They walked back, both slightly embarrassed.
"Sorry about that." Pit said. "Well, here goes nothing!" And he knocked on the door.
Pit and Samus ran into the Spectator Room. The others were already there, and they were with Red, Fox, and Falco. There were a few others sitting in the room, apart from the group. Peach saw them and waved.
"Over here guys." She called to them. Samus sat between the princesses and Pit sat by Red. "So, were you able to find Luigi? We looked around the cafeteria and kitchen and couldn't find him. We even looked outside the windows and didn't see anything. Then before we knew it, Tabuu announced the match beginning."
"Yeah, he was in his room." Samus nodded, catching her breath. "He seemed to understand the idea, but was still uncertain about being a guinea pig to try it. They were all teleported away before we got a definite answer from him, so we'll just have to see."
"I see. Well, you made it just in time." Zelda smiled.
Samus returned the smile. "Yeah, Pit and I ran back so we wouldn't miss anything."
"Speaking of which…" Link said from the other side of Zelda, pointing to the screen. The match's countdown began.
At the beginning, the Ice Climbers stood still, staring expectantly at Luigi. After a few seconds, Luigi sat down. The brother-sister team sighed in relief and did the same. The opposing teams sat on either side of Final Destination, looking up waiting to see what would happen.
Samus felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around to see Sonic looking at her. "Hey, do you know what they're doing?" He asked her.
"They're purposely not fighting to see how Tabuu handles the situation." She told him.
"Yeah." Peach spoke up. "It isn't a real match if he controls them to fight, so we want to see what he does."
Sonic had a mystified face, but eventually nodded in understanding and sat back in his chair.
After 2 minutes of nothing, suddenly a single Bob-omb appeared in the middle of the stage. It sat there motionless, making the Ice Climbers and Luigi stared at it confused. Suddenly, Nana got a panicked look on her face.
"Why can't I move?!" She yelled. This brought panic to her brother and Luigi. They began struggling, but couldn't move anything but their heads.
"Damn it!" Ike yelled. The audience members all looked at him.
"What's going on, Ike?" Peach asked.
"This is how he's going to handle it! That bastard!" Ike said, swing his arm in the air. "He knows they aren't going to fight, so stops them from moving and puts a bomb between them!"
"So?" Red asked.
"Oh no!" Peach yelled. "Bob-ombs are sentient, they aren't just items! Tabuu won't let them move, and whoever the Bob-omb decides to walk towards will get blown up!"
"I thought those things were random when they walked!" Pit yelled.
"They can walk where they want, whichever way it goes is up to the bomb!" Peach said, panicking.
"So that's it." Samus said. "If they won't decide who wins, he'll let a bomb decide. That's how he can keep his hands clean!"
"Damn it!" Ike yelled again.
Everybody watched the screen. All three fighters were doing everything to move, struggling against Tabuu's power.
Then the Bob-omb stood up.