Day 13: Youthful Naivety

I looked around the room rather confused. I didn't see Lucario anywhere. I thought for a few seconds that he had gone all ready for breakfast or training. So I got up and went into the washroom. After I was done doing my business I looked around the washroom. It looked exactly the same. My eyes then looked at the tub.

I could only stare in horror.

Sleeping there, in the tub, was Lucario.

I did my best to quietly walk out of the washroom, and then I began to frantically swear.

WHY IS HE SLEEPING IN THE TUB?

I lied in the bed and ten minutes later Lucario came out of the bathroom.

"How are you doing?" Lucario asked, oblivious that I had seen him in the bathtub.

"Fine." I lied.

"Your aura says a different story." Lucario replied. "You're nervous about something. Please tell me? Is it regarding the manager?"

"No, it's nothing. I was just concerned about my room. I just had a small fear that the manager applied kerosene to it, and it's all gone now."

"Ah I see." Lucario said. "Well, if you would like we could go up to your room to double check."

"No, it's fine!" I said.

We got up and went to the cafeteria. We ate some food. My mind was constantly occupied with the thoughts about the match I was going to have today. I couldn't wait for the match with Lucas, Ness and Roy.

However there was suddenly a broadcast over the PA system. "All Smashers, please report to the cafeteria!"

Everyone looked around confused. Several minutes later the Manager came in with a laptop in tow. She had a twisted smile across her face. Somehow I could tell this wasn't going to end well for me.

She hooked up the laptop to the wall and suddenly a projector descended from the ceiling. Also across the wall a screen began to descend. Suddenly on the screen footage from the security cameras began to show up. The Manager stepped out in front of the Smashers. "Thank you for coming to this emergency meeting." she said. "As you can tell, Lucas isn't here with us!"

They looked around and realized Lucas was indeed not with us. "After his match yesterday, he vanished." This wasn't good. Not good at all. She stared at me. "Now Nugai, I also checked the tapes, and you were absent during the match yesterday, you left the Smash HQ! Where did you go?"

I was terrified. I could feel the gazes of all of the Smashers on me.

"I met an old man and played chess with him in the park." I replied truthfully.

"And who was this old man?" She questioned.

My heart suddenly sank. I never even asked for his name. "I don't know." I replied.

"You don't know?" She questioned. "If you were playing a game, wouldn't you want to know who you were playing against? Or maybe that was just a lie, and you were actually meeting with the Reaper, to kidnap and torture poor little Lucas."

"Hold it!" A voice shouted out. Standing up was Wolf. "You haven't exactly painted yourself as the most trustworthy person alive." Wolf said. "What if you just have Lucas tied up in a room somewhere in the HQ!"

The Manager seemed to curse under her breath. "You're trusting him over me?" She asked.

"I never said that." Wolf admitted. "I was just pointing out a possibility. At least Nugai wasn't someone who wanted to experiment on us. Lucas could of also left the Smash HQ and gotten lost in the big city. I just don't think it's fair that you immediately blame Nugai."

She remained frustrated.

"Then the best course of action is to split up." Mario said. "Some of us can go into the city and search. While others can check the HQ to see if Lucas is tied up somewhere."

Everyone nodded, and quickly dispersed. I decided to walk up to Wolf. "Thank you Wolf." I said.

He however just glared at me. "I wasn't defending you. I was just pointing out other possibilities."

"I understand."

I walked away.

I decided that the best course of action was to go to the old man once again. If worse came to worst, he would be willing to help defend me against the Manager's accusations. I went out of the Smash HQ, and to be cautious, Mewtwo decided to come along with me. "We can't have the Manager use this as another opportunity to make you seem responsible for Lucas' disappearance."

"Okay, thank you." I said. I understood his concern. Even if Mewtwo knew I was innocent, it wouldn't do me a lot of good if no one else could read my mind, or believed me. At least with Mewtwo, he could be a witness.

We walked out to the park. Mewtwo remained calm. "Mewtwo, is it okay if you watch from a distance?" I asked. "I don't want to startle that old man with you looming over us."

Mewtwo nodded. "I understand. I'll watch from a distance." As we entered to the park I pointed out the old man to him. Mewtwo however was slightly nervous. "That old man isn't who he appears to be. I can feel some strange energy coming from him."

I didn't know if I should have been afraid. "He didn't hurt me yesterday, so I think he can be trusted."

"Very well then." Mewtwo said.

I approached the old man. "Hello again."

He looked up at me, and a smile crossed his face.

"You're back."

"Yes." I replied. "You said something yesterday. And well, I do have some questions, and I'm hoping you have answers."

"You're wondering about the current location of Lucas." The old man said.

I stood there in shock. How did he know? "Yes." I replied.

"He was taken by the Reaper." he calmly replied. "After the match between Ness and Lucas ended, the Reaper confronted him, and they walked out of the Smash HQ together."

"Just who are you, and how do you know this stuff?" I asked.

"My name is Tabuu, and I guess you could say that things aren't always as they appear." The old man said.

Tabuu, had I heard that name before? It certainly didn't ring any bells.

"I'll take your word for that."

"The Manager will accuse you to the bitter end." Tabuu calmly said. "That of course will be her undoing."

I wondered what he meant by that.

"Now please, we have all the time in the world. Let's play another game of chess."

I nodded and sat down. He proceeded to beat me at the game of chess. "Thank you for the game. Now, I guess you should be going and looking for someone you will not find."

"Where is Lucas now?"

"If I tell you, you will only rush in to your suicide. Lucas will return tomorrow, and there will be blood on his hands."

"Blood?" I questioned.

"You will find out soon enough." He said. "When you have time, return for another game. I know you will improve for the next time we meet."

I got up and walked back towards Mewtwo. "What did he say?"

"He told me that Lucas walked out of the Smash HQ with the Reaper."

"What?" Mewtwo said shocked.

"He also said that Lucas is currently at the Reaper's base, however he said it would be suicide to try and attack it."

"Yes." Mewtwo replied. "It would most definitely be suicide. Besides the reaper, you would also have to deal with several of his followers. Each of them would be a frightening force alone, but together it really would be suicide."

"He also said that Lucas would come back to the Smash HQ tomorrow with blood on his hands. Although I don't understand that."

"He might escape through force, and badly wound someone." Mewtwo replied. "So, please tell me you at least asked for his name this time."

"Yes, he called himself Tabuu." I replied. "Does it ring any bells?

"Not at all."

We got back to the Smash HQ, and Mewtwo informed the Manager that Lucas had indeed been kidnapped by the Reaper. She was furious, and tried to shift the blame to me once again. However Mewtwo told her that the old man playing chess was real, and that he was the one who had seen Lucas and the Reaper walk out of the HQ. She called back all of the Smashers, and broke the news. They just dispersed.

I didn't know what to do now. I approached Ness. "Ness, would you like to battle?"

He seemed out of it. He just nodded. I could tell in his current state, even I would be capable of slaughtering him. So, perhaps a battle wasn't the best course of action. "Actually, Ness you seem really out of it. I don't think a battle would be a good idea. I guess we would have to postpone our match until we rescue Lucas."

Ness nodded and walked away. Although, deep down I wanted to fight, and I felt a little depressed that I wouldn't get the free for all between myself, Lucas, Ness, and Roy.

I quickly began to run for Roy. "Roy!" I shouted. "Do you want to have a battle!"

He looked up at me. He also seemed a little depressed, although, not as badly as Ness. "Sure, that should be able to get my mind off of this."

Roy led the way, and we began to walk down to the stage to start a battle. "I'm sorry that it isn't the four fighter match that I promised." I apologized.

"Don't worry about that." Roy laughed back.

"And, I'm sorry that your last fight here with the Smashers is under such bad circumstances."

"Actually, Nugai, I canceled my flight back home." Roy replied. "I couldn't leave the Smashers without not knowing if Lucas was safe or not."

I was actually relived that Roy was staying. Perhaps later, once Lucas came back, we could have our free for all battle. We made it to the stadium, and within a few minutes the two of us were fight a quick 3 stock match.

I really had to hand it to Roy; he seemed completely different on the battlefield than he did in real life. He was much more serious. He was also very calculating. With each item that fell he seemed to use it to his advantage. Even when he discarded them, or left the items alone they seemed to benefit him.

"Come on Nugai!" Roy said. "I can read your every move! You're too predictable!"

Being down a stock, I decided to keep my distance and try to figure out how he was reading my movements. It soon hit me, he was watching my arm's movements, with that he could tell how I was swinging my beam sword, and how much strength was behind it. If I had any items, he could tell how far I was going to throw them based upon my stance. An advantage he wouldn't have in multiple opponent battles.

In the end I only managed to knock Roy out twice. But I felt that there was a bit of progress made. Roy just laughed. "That match was great Nugai!"

"No problem." I said.

"Although, next time you should probably distance yourself from the crates, just incase they do explode." Roy laughed. "Well, hopefully we can enjoy another fight some other time."

We walked down to the cafeteria. Most of the Smashers had finished eating lunch and were out and about doing various things. I could only imagine that several of them were planning on going out to try and find Lucas, and attack the Reaper's base head on.

I sat down at a table with a tray full of food. I took a bite and noticed a kick to the food. Roy wasn't as lucky. "Toon Link must of put hot sauce in the food again!" Roy snapped rather annoyed. "He was even trying to put hot sauce in the cake yesterday, can you belive that?"

"I wonder why he's doing it." I said.

"It's just a cry for attention." Roy sighed. "He's lonely and want's people to notice him or something."

Would it just be that?

Well, since I had all afternoon, I decided then and there to find out why Toon Link would put hot sauce in the food. "Well, Nugai, I've still got to clean my room. So, hopefully I'll see you around." Roy said as he ran off. I just sighed.

Exiting from the kitchen was Toon Link. In his hands was a bottle of hot sauce. He seemed to be snickering. Having finished the food I decided to get up and follow him. However, almost instantly he noticed that I was following him. He turned around to face me. "What do you want Nugai?"

"I was just curious about something." I said.

"About what?" He said.

"Just what brand of hot sauce that is." I replied. "I'm also wondering why you're constantly putting it in the food?"

Toon Link just smiled. "Well, the brand is Death Sauce, and I put it in as a joke!"

"Just as a joke?" I questioned.

"Yep!" Toon Link replied. "Isn't it funny?"

"No!" I snapped. "You're ruining perfectly good food!"

Toon Link didn't like this answer. He backed up, in shock. "You wouldn't understand anyways." He muttered.

"What wouldn't I understand?" I asked.

"I'm just a replacement!" Toon Link said.

I didn't know if this really was as big of an issue as he was making it out to be. "Is it really that big of an issue?"

"Yes!" Toon Link replied. "Everyone wants me to be exactly just like Young Link! But I'm not like him though! Why don't I prove it in a battle!"

"Okay then." I had nothing better to do, so I might as well enjoy another battle.

As we walked down to the battlefield, there was a smile across his face. Toon Link seemed arrogant. I figured he thought because he had seen the match between Marth and me, that he would have the advantage. How naive.

We got there and our battle began instantly. We had turned off the items so that we could only fight with our swords. Toon Link had actually caught me by surprise. He was much faster and agile than Marth and Roy. However, he was far too cocky. He left himself open far too often, and I could tell where he was going to be almost instantly. Once I got over his initial speed, I was actually able to beat him.

He was actually devastated that he had lost against me.

However I suddenly felt ill. It was as though I had over exerted my body. My chest suddenly had pain coursing through it. It felt as though that something was about to burst out of it. I collapsed onto the ground, and Toon Link looked at me rather afraid. "Hey, Nugai, what's wrong?"

"My chest hurts." I replied. He didn't know what to do, he was in shock. However, Mewtwo teleported in. He had been in the bleachers watching our fight.

"You've done another fight today haven't you?" He said.

"How do you know that?"

"Each of the fights in the virtual space put stress on your body. For that reason, we're only allowed to have 1 fight a day." Mewtwo explained.

"You could have told me that sooner." I said. "What can I do?"

"You can avoid partaking in any more battles, as the next one probably will leave you hospitalized." Mewtwo suggested. "Other than that, you can just take it easy. Also, Toon Link, can you watch over Nugai for the rest of the day so that the Manager doesn't try to kill him."

We walked out stadium, and Toon Link directed me to his room.

When we got there, I looked around and saw a picture of him with a little girl, a bunch of pirates and someone who I assumed to be his grandmother. He sat down on a chair, and noticed I was looking at the photo. "We took the photo before I left to be with the Smashers." Toon Link said.

"I see. I'm guessing everyone was afraid that you were going to be homesick?"

"No, it's just they thought I needed something to remember them by." Toon Link replied.

I wondered if in the real world people had noticed that I was missing. That I was gone? Would they have called the police, and filed a missing person report? Would anyone care?

I looked around the room. Toon Link seemed to have a blue shirt and orange pants thrown across the bed. I just sat down on a chair. "I guess we can just stay here until you feel better."

"Why don't I just go to Dr. Mario's office?" I asked.

"He's just going to tell you the same thing that Mewtwo did." Toon Link said. "So, Lucas was kidnapped by the Reaper. I'm guessing this place isn't as safe as everyone thinks."

Come to think of it, Tabuu didn't say that Lucas was kidnapped; he said that he walked out of the Smash HQ with the Reaper.

"Nugai, about our battle."

I looked up at Toon Link. "Yes?"

"I was wondering about how you were able to predict where I was going to strike and how you were able to counter everything so perfectly."

"Well, I realized that your reach with your sword wasn't that far, and I just continued to have a mental picture of your maximum reach. With that out of the way, you telegraph when you're attacking with your bow and arrow and boomerang far too much. The biggest advantage you had was your speed, but once I got used to your pace, I could counter it."

Toon Link nodded. "I think I understand what you're saying."

"Yeah, Roy told me that he could read my attacks. And during the battle I learned how to tell where he will attack." I replied.

I stayed in Toon Link's room for a good portion of the day. At dinner, my body had stopped hurting and we went down. Surprisingly there was no hot sauce in either my food or anyone else's.

Whenever Toon Link wasn't eating, he was telling me stories of what it was like back at his home, on Outset Island, and then his adventures on the great sea. I could tell he was exaggerating some things. He talked about how he stormed an enemy fortress all by himself, and how he was surrounded by monsters and fought them off single-handedly. He was a good storyteller; I'll give him that. He certainly kept me engaged.

When I had finished dinner we got up. Toon Link just wouldn't stop talking about his adventures. I guess all he wanted was someone to listen, but among all of the Smashers who had their own adventures, perhaps his was only average.

"I was captured by a whirlpool and constantly firing my cannon at the giant squid!" Toon link said. "You're really the first person to listen to me here!"

"Really?" I asked.

"Yeah." Toon Link said. "Everyone else just seems to brush me off, thinking that I over exaggerate everything. So, what were your adventures like?"

"My adventures?"

"Yeah, the reason you were chosen to be a Smasher! What were your adventures like in your world?" Toon Link said.

We had made it to Toon Link's room. We entered and I sat down on the couch. "My adventures." I said. I tried to think of something. "I never really had adventures I guess. I just lived. At least that's what I remember."

"Geeze, you sound so boring." Toon Link said. "I wonder how you were chosen to be a Smasher."

"It just happened." I said. "I'm sorry, with out my memories, this is the most exciting thing that has ever happened to me. Who knows, maybe from my world I am a great warrior who has saved it from destruction countless times before."

Or, I'm just a giant loser who obsesses over videogames.

Toon Link just laughed. "Well, when you regain your memories, please tell me about your adventures."

Something tells me you don't want to know about them.

"Sure." I said. "If there is anything that can rival your adventures."

"It's a promise then!" Toon Link said.

A few seconds later Toon Link went into the washroom and got changed into his pajamas. Orange pants, and a blue shirt with a white crayfish on it. He jumped on his bed, and going by how it seemed to move, it appeared to be a water bed.

"Nugai." Toon Link said.

"Yes?" I asked.

"Do you think Lucas is okay?" Toon Link asked.

"He will be fine. I know he's a strong kid." I said.

"Do you have any siblings?" Toon Link asked.

"I don't remember." I said. "You?"

"I've got a younger sister." Toon Link replied. He suddenly began to yawn. "Well, see you tomorrow."

I also began to yawn. "Yeah."

Toon Link fell asleep in his bed.

I just continued to lie on the couch, staring up at the ceiling, eventually falling asleep.

Seriously, Toon Link crayfish pajamas, it should have been in Brawl. I might of found Toon Link tolerable then… Why did Wario get the only alternative costume?