Robin and Samus Meet the Werepenguin

"Nice sling."

Lucina was sitting in the main foyer, attempting to read. She turned. Robin was standing with Samus, who had punched Robin in the shoulder after his little comment. Lucina smiled.

"I'll wear it as a badge of honor, Uncle Robin." She answered. Robin winced slightly. "Victory has a price."

"Duly noted." He said. "Remember what I said about calling me 'uncle'?" Lucina grinned slightly, attempting to hide her amusement. Samus smiled wryly, catching the swordswoman's look.

"Oh, but can't you see how happy she is, Uncoo Robby?" The bounty hunter widened her eyes mockingly. Robin rolled his eyes, gently shoving her.

"Well, Samus is going to teach me more about her ship, if you were interested in coming along." He motioned towards the hallway that led to the tram station. Lucina shook her head.

"I thank you, but I want to finish this book." She replied. "You go have fun, uncle." She emphasized the last word, causing Robin to fluster and walk off, waving his hands like a madman. Samus ruffled Lucina's hair.

"You know, sometimes I wonder if you just fake the whole 'nice girl' thing." She said affectionately. "You really do have a sarcastic side." Lucina smiled slightly.

"I get it from my mom." She said. "And I'm learning from the best." Samus laughed at that.

"Damn right, kid. Well, have a good day, and rest up." She gave her partner a parting punch to the shoulder. The good one, Samus double checked. She turned to follow Robin towards the terminal. As she caught up with him, he was silent, his hands shoved deep into the pockets of his raggedy cloak. He gave Samus a glare, while holding a pout. The murmurs of faraway conversations and the mechanical whispers of automatic doors and active rails broke the tenous silence. Robin sighed in exasperation.

"You're going to be the death of me." He finally said. He heard the bounty hunter chuckle.

"Lucina does all that on her own, you know." She responded. Robin pulled his hands out, now gesturing wildly with them.

"But you're the enabler!" He insisted. "You and Anna and Lissa could all create some horrifying coalition of tricks and wit, and we'd be powerless against your passive-aggressiveness!"

"I'd invite your wife as well!" Samus said, jokingly. "And I like to think of myself as 'aggressive-aggressive, Mr. Run-on-Sentence." Robin grumbled and shoved his hands back in his pocket.

"Please don't invite Cordy, she'd actually make it happen." He finally smirked a little bit, prompting Samus to slap him across the back. She could hear his breath get knocked out of him. As he wheezed, the tram finally made it's way into the station. The automatic doors opened, and Samus led Robin inside. Finally seated, Robin finally took a deep breath. There were a few more awkward seconds, before the doors closed again. Samus looked around. Nobody had entered their car, thank goodness.

"Alright," Her tone had shifted to a serious tone. "You told me you had a strange dream. What happened?"

"I still don't get why we couldn't discuss it with Lucina." Robin remarked.

"I don't want to discuss it in the mansion." Samus responded. "Too many ears."

"We didn't need to lie about where we were going, or turn up the sarcasm."

Samus put up one hand, counting down on her fingers. "First of all, I didn't lie. We're going to my ship, so I can do a system's check." Onto her second finger. "Secondly, yes I did. Because it's fun. And thirdly," She said before he could ask. "It's not like I don't trust Lucina. I trust like, three people in this mansion, and only one of them has psychic powers of any caliber. Call me paranoid, but you said this was important."

"I'm not sure this level of secrecy was needed," Robin muttered. "But I guess it's appreciated."

"Good to know." She was short with the tactician. "What was this dream about?"

Well, for starters, I don't remember a place like this.

It felt … wet. The walls were cold, moist from the high humidity of the place. Robin could feel a breeze come through the tunnel. Each step echoed, the sounds of running water droning in the background. As he reached the end of the tunnel, he paused.

It was all rather familiar. Several waterfalls ran off cliffs in the basin, surrounding all sides. There were several pools of water, running into each other. He took a seat on the edge of the lowest pool. There was movement on one of the higher escarpments. He pulled out a book. The worn yellow cover felt molded to his hand. There was no further movement. Robin slowly put the tome to his side, pulling out a journal. The journal itself had already been marked, visits past written within the pages. Pausing, he flipped to the first page. He began to read aloud.

"'Hello Robin, it's yourself.'" He chuckled at that. "Bizarre, but not unwelcome."

'This isn't the first time you've been here.'

"Good to know I'm only slightly crazy."

'I recommend chronicling how far you get in this place, as the sense of deja-vu is overwhelming for me. I don't know how many times I've already been here, but I'm going to call this Journal Number One."

Robin flipped through the pages, reading excerpt after excerpt.

'Journal #2. This place isn't anywhere in Ylisse, or anywhere I'm familiar with. The markings are consistent with Hylian writing, though the reason this is is unknown. I have a feeling this is all a lucid dream, and this is all in my subconscious.'

'Journal #3. Awesome. I'm not alone, apparently. I heard something in the upper pools. I made my way up, and found what looked to be a throne room. Coral weaved into an ornate chair. It's pretty nice. It's a shame I can't learn Hylian while I'm dreaming, though. It might make this easier.'

The next pages detailed the mapping of the area, four stories of cliff face houses, storage, and tunnels entering and exiting the area. A river seemed to engulf one of the exits, which Robin could not see the end of. The last journal, however, caught Robin's eye.

'Journal #8. It's Mewtwo, the conniving dastard. Good lord, I'm becoming Chrom. Mewtwo has been the one following me and watching me from the cliffs. Perhaps it's not a dream …

...

Then why can't I remember?'

Robin shut the journal. He felt a presence to his right. "Mewtwo." He said casually. The Pokemon did not respond, electing to merely float next to him. There was a brief moment of silence. "Are you in my dream, or am I in your-"

"I am visiting your dream," Mewtwo responded. "Though it seems to be proving fruitless." Robin stared into the nearest pool, shimmering under the moonlight.

"Fruitless, huh?" Robin chuckled. "What were you expecting to find?"

"Maybe an answer. Maybe more questions," Mewtwo responded. "I asked Lucina for help, but we only got so far. I don't think it's fair to ask her for anything else."

"She must've been disappointed."

"Distraught."

Robin nodded. "Sounds like little Lucy. What have you found out?" He turned to face the psychic, who, despite not returning the glance, was clearly sizing Robin up. The wind began to wail through the tunnels, a child of some northerly winds, attempting to find it's parents in the sky. Robin could feel a slight chill. Wherever this was, it was in the north. Or it was reaching winter. Finally, Mewtwo spoke.

"Wherever this place is, it's Hylian in nature," Mewtwo said matter-of-factly, "It seems to have originated from Zelda's dreamscape, and moved outward through the Triforce." He looked at Robin. "You do know about the Triforce, correct?"

Robin shot Mewtwo a withering glance. "No, I never study any potential opponents or allies," He said bitterly, "I just survive off of pure luck and fairy dust."

"The Triforce has immense mental augmentation abilities." Mewtwo interrupted, not truly listening. "In layman's terms, it can enter other people to deliver messages, warnings, visions."

"Warnings?" Robin began, "You make it sound like the Triforce-"

"-Has a mind of it's own. It does," Mewtwo replied, "and I believe it to be omnipresent."

"So if it can see everything, why not fix the problem?" Robin asked. The wind began to scream, as if the very gods were hurling obscenities at him. Flecks of frost began to fall from the sky.

"Perhaps you have a role to play." Mewtwo shrugged. Robin stood up. The wind was coming from a particular direction, a small tunnel to his right. He began walking towards it. "Ah, yes. This tunnel seems to draw everyone."

"So I'm not the only one seeing this?" Robin stepped into the tunnel. The wind seemed to calm, now beckoning him further in. The biting cold made him cling to his coat. He muttered several words, and fire erupted from several braziers in the walls. The shadows danced upon Mewtwo's pale skin and Robin's robe, the ornate designs leaping off the cloth.

"No. Zelda, Bowser, and Lucina have all seen it."

"You invited Lucina."

"A necessary thing, mind you," Mewtwo replied, "Sometimes puzzles just need another perspective." Mewtwo stopped. He looked astonished. Robin turned around, facing the pokemon. "There was a barrier here. Why is it gone?" The tactician smirked.

"Maybe it's just my natural charms?" He quipped.

"You're naturally unfunny."

Robin grinned, turning back to face the end of the tunnel. "So this is uncharted territory," He remarked, "Thrilling." As the tunnel expanded, Robin walked out into the snow. The initial sight was underwhelming, a small frozen lake, several trees, and lots of snow. As Robin looked upwards, though, he saw it.

The mountain.

It was enormous, the size of Mount Prism, easily. However, unlike either the Mountain of Origin or Mount Prism, it didn't look tranquil, nor did it look demonic or evil. It seemed to meld all these things together and freeze them into it's visage. It looked like it didn't welcome any visitors, nor did it care. Indifferent and cruel, yet still majestic.

Robin was overcome by it's beauty.

He turned to Mewtwo, who was staring at the mountain in shock.

"What kind of gods would expect people to climb that?"

Samus opened her ship as Robin finished his story. "Dude, that's ridiculous," She said, "But I thought you said this was important." Robin huffed.

"What, you don't think that a vivid dream with a psychic hitching a ride is important?" He asked.

"I wouldn't be surprised if Mewtwo does that all the time, and suppose he's right about the Triforce," She answered, "It could just be some … weird dream stream or something!" As they entered the ship, Samus called out to the computer.

"Adam! Run Diagnostic Two Dash Seventeen Rho Beta! And make sure the engine core is flushed?" She added on, exasperatingly.

"Confirmed, Samus. And might I mention you look lovely as always?"

"Thanks, you always know how to treat a girl right." Samus rolled her eyes, before turning to Robin. "Take a seat, Robby. Let's figure this thing out." Robin took the nearest seat, Samus chose to lie on a obviously transplanted couch. "So, Mr. Robin, why does this dream bug you so much?" She asked, writing a fake prescription in the air.

"Where to begin?" Robin started, "I suppose Mewtwo visiting me was a bit strange, or the fact that a Hylian landscape entered my head."

"Still, could all be a lie" Samus countered. "Neither of us have been to Hyrule."

"Agreed, I thought of that too."

"You think the Triforce is warning you about something?" She asked. Robin sighed, eyes darkened by lack of sleep.

"It's a thought," He said, "Not a great one, but it's very possible."

"What's wrong with that, though?"

"Well, considering my visions outside of this dream, the future doesn't look too pleasant." Robin responded. Samus raised her head, curious.

"What else did you see?"

The tactician shrugged. "The usual. Blood, wailing, tears." He paused to gauge Samus's reaction. It bordered disturbed. "You know, the fun ones." Before she could respond, Robin continued. "There was also this."

Robin took out a book from under his robe, tossing it to the bounty hunter. Samus caught it, lightly opening the book. Her eyes widened. " … Damn." was all she managed to say.

"Yeah, damn."

The book was unremarkable in size, no bigger than a journal. It's brown leather cover was slightly worn. On the inside were pages of shorthand scribbles and notes, most of which Samus couldn't make out, but after two pages of that, sat legible text.

It was Robin's notebook, from the dream. There were even sketches of the mountain he talked about. Sketches of the pools of water, of the runes on the wall. Samus even recognized some of the runes, from Zel's attempted lessons on the Hylian language. Samus found herself to be a more … on-the-field kind of learner.

"What the heck, man?" She exclaimed, "How did you manage this?"

"I didn't." Robin corrected Samus. His gaze was focused on the book. "I've never owned a book like this. The handwriting is mine, but …" He paused, "It isn't right."

"Really not right."

"Extremely not right, would you say?"

Samus and Robin turned to the door. Neither of them had spoken. A large round creature had entered the ship. The creature was both tall and wide, with an extravagant red coat, and strange hat adorned with a gold band and nugget in the front. Robin had seen him around a couple times, but had yet to meet him. Samus groaned in annoyance.

"What'dya want, Dedede?" She asked. This 'Dedede' just moved into the room, his smile was vacant, but Robin could see the cogs turning in his brain. He looked at Samus, then Robin, then back to the bounty hunter.

"I just overheard your conversation, and I thought maybe I could help." The penguin continued. Samus rolled her eyes. The King pulled out a small card from his robe. "I've been watching Robin for awhile now, and I was planning to invite him into my little club." He handed the card to Robin. It was matte black, with gold etching:

Organization for Minor Incidents and Tomfoolery

Villains, Anti-Heroes, and Rogues Welcome!

King Dedede

Acting Presidente

"You can be a king and a president?" Robin asked. Samus snorted, clearly amused. "What do I get for joining your club?"

Dedede was quick to answer. "I can get you information about what you're seeing. Detailed ideas about the Triforce that Zelda knows, but won't tell you." He kept leaning closer and closer until the last few words were merely a whisper. "I can figure out why you got that journal, perhaps?"

Samus jumped from the couch. "Is there anywhere in this damn mansion that's secure?!" She shouted, "How many conversations have you eavesdropped on, you little sneak?"

Dedede grinned, almost cruelly, "More than enough, Ms. Aran. You would've noticed earlier, if you weren't so busy with your ward and studying so much Hylian." Samus was red in the face, a combination of embarrassment and anger. She walked over to a small locker, pulling out a wrench.

"Alright, bird-brain, now you get-" She exclaimed, before Robin put himself between the two. He stared down King Dedede.

"For every meeting that Samus and I go to, I want two of my questions answered." Robin was quiet and cold. "No answers, and we don't come back."

Dedede was already out the door, shouting "Deal!" before Robin could finish. Samus punched the tactician in the stomach.

"Don't rope me into one of your schemes." She said, almost hissing. Robin gasped, the breath knocked out of him.

"Just … one … meeting," he wheezed, "and you … can beat him up if he doesn't … deliver." Samus smiled at that.

"Alright, I'll take those odds."

"Pleeeeease, Ganondorf?"

"What on earth do you want, Dedede?"

Ganondorf sat in his room, dim lighting breaking through the darkness. As he sat at his desk, writing some notes on his and Robin's next opponent, King Dedede had taken the opportunity to visit him. These visits were almost always unwelcome.

"Listen, I need that book of yours, 'How to Conquer Hyrule on a Budget' or whatever! Robin asked me some questions and Samus was there and I tried being sneaky and aggressive and I made a comment about Zelda and I don't think it worked and now she's mad at me and I really need-"

"Shut. Up." Ganondorf commanded. King Dedede squeaked, then made no sound. Ganondorf continued. "First of all, my war plans and surveying of Hyrule is not some petty traveler's guide. And, here's a thought, maybe being mysterious and threatening doesn't work for the giant penguin!" Ganondorf got out of his seat. "I'll let you borrow it, but make sure it gets back to me, and don't let Zelda see it." He pulled a dusty book from one of his shelves, slinging it to the king. "I don't want her to get the wrong idea." Dedede blurted out several sentences of thanks, before beginning to waddle away. "Oh, Dedede," Ganondorf called out, "What about Samus and Zelda?"

Dedede paused, before replying. "Samus asked Zelda to teach her Hylian."

Ganondorf rolled his eyes. Language lessons? Nothing concrete, and it wasn't as if Samus didn't have use for learning the language. Bounty hunters need to learn a lot of things while on the job. Only Dedede would find value in something like that. "I see. Carry on then."

He heard the sounds of waddling and the door slamming, and he was isolated again.

Thank you all for reading! Your support and reviews are always super helpful and I really enjoy reading them! Even with a hectic schedule, it really helps me focus on taking some time to write when I know that you guys enjoy the story!

As always, reviews and questions and critiques are wanted and loved! I'll respond to some next chapter, I'm still running a little on empty until Saturday!

Chapter 18: Lucina and Corrin Head to Flavortown