A new chapter?! (gasps) Unheard of!
When Master Hand called for a morning assembly, usually the Smashers would all moan and groan about it, then drag themselves over to the auditorium. Even if it was just delaying the inevitable, they would walk as slowly as possible, complaining all the way. The slower it took them to get there, the better.
Today was one of those exceptions to the rule. The Smashers had practically assembled themselves like the Avengers. People charged into the auditorium and took up the front seats quicker than you could say "Spiders Georg." Anyone caught dragging their feet was immediately urged to walk faster.
"Hurry up!"
"Aren't you excited?"
"Yeah, but..."
"Then come on!"
Zelda was dragging Samus along with such force she thought her arm might actually come off. Yes, she was excited, but did they really have to walk this fast? They went down the stairs, down hallway after hallway, and finally through the doors of the auditorium. It was only then that the princess let go of her.
"We have to get a front seat!" Zelda whispered loudly.
"...All the front seats are taken, Zel." It was true. There were no spaces at the front, at least not two seats next to each other.
"See, this is why I wanted you to hurry up!"
She took Samus's arm again (not again, Samus thought) and dragged her through the rows, looking for somewhere to sit. Finally, they found two empty seats in the third row, behind Jigglypuff and Kirby. They were pretty short, short enough to see over, so it was a good spot. Once they had sat down, Zelda folded her hands in her lap and stared intently at the stage.
Now all that was left to do was wait for everyone else. It didn't take that long, everyone was clamoring for a close-up seat. Not long after they had sat down, Master Hand floated onto the stage, taking the podium.
"Ahem." The noise echoed throughout the entire auditorium, and all the Smashers fell silent at the sound. When he felt that it was quiet enough, Master Hand began to speak.
"I'm sure you all know why I have called you here," he said. "Today, I will be announcing the participants of the 8th Monthly Super Smash Brothers 4 Tournament." He paused a moment to clear his throat again, then continued. "This month, at Crazy Hand's insistence, the tournament will be conducted in the style of the Hunger Games."
There were a few confused murmurs from the crowd.
"There are, traditionally, twelve pairs from each District. However, in order to accommodate the large number of Smashers, sixteen pairs have been chosen. The teams are as follows: Lucario and Mewtwo, Kirby and Ness, Shulk and Samus..."
Zelda laid a dainty hand on Samus's shoulder and smiled. Samus smiled back at her. She glanced down the row at Shulk, who was also being congratulated by his friends.
"...Sheik and Greninja, Dark Pit and King Dedede..."
After Samus heard her name announced, she stopped paying attention to the announcements. After all, Master Hand would probably put up the list of Smashers on the bulletin board. Meanwhile, Zelda kept staring at the stage, waiting for her name to be called.
"...Marth and Falco, and last but not least, Robin and Jigglypuff."
Zelda sighed. "It's okay," Samus said in her best reassuring voice.
"I know."
"As for the rules of the tournament..." Master Hand continued. "In the style of the Hunger Games, the tournament will be a free-for-all. You are free to team up with as many people as you want, whether they be from your district or not. However, there will be a Super Smash Brothers twist.
"Instead of actually killing each other, you will have a set amount of stamina. When your stamina is depleted, you will be removed from the battlefield and eliminated from the tournament. The last participant standing will be declared the winner, and will receive a reward of 10,000 gold coins.
"You have the weekend to prepare, and the tournament will start on Monday. I wish all of you good luck. You are all dis-"
There was a small "ahem" from behind the auditorium curtain. Master Hand stopped his speech and turned around.
"Crazy..." he whispered. "Do I really have to say it?"
"Mm-hmm."
"You believe it is an absolute necessity?"
"Mm-hmm."
"But... why?"
"You gotta."
Master Hand turned back around and cleared his throat again. "Happy Hunger Games... and may the odds be ever in your favor. You are all dismissed."
And with that, the assembly ended. The unusual silence that had settled over the Smashers was slowly broken, as they filed out of the auditorium and began to whisper excitedly.
Hey, Shulk.
Yeah, what?
It's dangerous to go alone. Take me?
T-that's a weird way to put it.
Er... weird or not, I think we'll be better off working together. Right?
...Sure, why not.
Robin and Shulk stood awkwardly in the Wii Fit Studio. The Battlefield had been reserved by another group, so they had to take what they would get.
"Sooo... Training," Robin suggested, looking at the ceiling.
"Yeah."
"Any ideas?"
"You're the tactician here."
"I guess you have a point. Hm..."
"Well..." Shulk put his hand to his chin and tapped his foot thoughtfully. "Learning what everyone else is going to do would help."
"Everyone else is probably doing that too, though."
"I know, but that's all I've got for now."
"Back to square one?"
"I guess so."
Again, they stood there awkwardly. Robin hated to shoot down Shulk's idea like that (honestly, it was a good idea), but they needed to get some sort of advantage. Some sort of edge over the others. And doing what everyone else did wasn't going to get that advantage.
"Where are we going to be fighting?" Robin asked.
"I'm not really sure. It'd have to be a pretty big stage."
"Gaur Plain, maybe?"
"Maybe, but..." Shulk scrunched his face. "There's no place to hide. I don't think we'd go there."
"Ugh."
They kept going back and forth like that for a minute, one of them tossing out an idea, and the other turning it down. It seemed like they would get nothing done- then suddenly, Robin had a plot-convenient revelation.
"I've got it. Let's fight."
"Wait, what?"
Robin took out his Levin Sword and tome and pointed the sword at Shulk. "Fight me!"
"Uh, sure."
Shulk brandished his own sword, and then the two swordsmen charged at each other.
Zelda sighed, slowing down her walking pace. Samus slowed down with her.
"If you really want to, you can take my place," she said.
"No no no, it's fine," Zelda replied quickly. "I'm fine, really."
"Liar. You keep sighing like that."
Zelda stopped walking, and Samus stopped as well. "Really, I'm fine!" she insisted.
Samus looked at the flyer in her hand, then at Zelda, then back at the flyer. She then folded the flyer in half and whacked Zelda over the head with it.
"Ouch!" Zelda pouted while she held the top of her head. "What was that for!"
"I told you already, you're not Elsa. If you have feelings, you can tell me about them."
The princess opened her mouth a few times, but no response came out of her mouth. That gave Samus enough time to come up with a better response.
"Do we need to go shopping for dresses again?"
"...No, it's okay. Actually," Zelda said, finally getting out of her slump, "It's not the tournament. I'm fine just supporting from the sidelines. And shouldn't you be training now?" she tried to change the subject.
"Hm? Oh, yeah. I'll go to the hub room and see if one of the stages are open."
"That's all?"
"...What?"
"You're not going to train with Shulk?" Zelda hinted.
"I mean, if he's by himself, then sure."
Zelda wasn't satisfied with Samus's answer, but she probably wasn't going to get more out of her. She decided, then, that it was time to leave. "I guess I'll be going, then. Have fun, Samus."
"Bye."
The princess turned around to go her own way, leaving Samus to continue down the hallway on her own. She walked to the end of the hallway and pushed open the doors to the hub room.
For the most part, the hub room was dark inside. The only sources of light were eight platforms faintly glowing blue, a touch screen standing on a podium, and a larger screen above the podium. Samus scrolled through stages on the touch screen to see if Shulk was there already.
When she scrolled to the Wii Fit Studio stage, she saw two icons of Shulk and Robin pop up on the touch screen along with a sign. "Reserved," the sign read. She looked up to the bigger screen to see Shulk and Robin clashing swords over and over again. Robin seemed intensely focused on Shulk, who looked like he was having a little trouble fighting back.
"...Oh. Oh well."
Samus didn't mind too much. She was used to fighting by herself, anyway. She scrolled to the Pyrosphere stage on the touch screen and selected it for training. One of the platforms suddenly glowed much brighter. She stepped onto the platform and warped off to train alone.
"Back Slash!"
"Augh!"
THUNK! Robin slammed into the mirror wall from Shulk's surprise attack. As soon as he recovered, he prepared to launch a counterattack.
"Thoron!"
He fired off his magical kamehameha of death, but Shulk saw it coming and dodged it like a boss. Before Robin could attack again, the Monado boy had grabbed him by the collar and pinned him to the mirror wall. He pressed the sword to Robin's neck, making him squirm a little.
"Scales were tipped," quipped Shulk.
"Alright... you win," Robin finally said.
"Whew!"
Shulk lowered his sword and fell on his back, breathing heavily. Robin let out a breath he didn't know he was holding and relaxed.
"Y'know, you're actually... a pretty good fighter," Shulk managed between breaths. "I thought for sure... you were going to win."
Robin slumped down along the wall until he was sitting. "You really... think so?"
"Yeah."
"T-thanks," Robin stuttered.
For a few moments, they both just lay in their respective places, trying to catch their breath. There was silence, but it wasn't uncomfortable. Robin took the opportunity to think about the match and what exactly went wrong.
He didn't understand it. Robin had long-range attacks to hold close-range fighters at bay, he was supposed to have the upper hand against a swordsman like Shulk. But somehow, he had still managed to back him into a corner. It was probably those visions of his, he decided.
Definitely not because Shulk's gorgeous face distracted him when victory was nearly in his hands. Not at all.
It's a good thing he's on my side now, he thought.
Slowly, Shulk pulled himself up to his feet, feeling his leg muscles stretch with soreness. He then held out a hand for Robin to take.
Robin reached toward Shulk's hand, but just as he was about to grab his hand, he decided otherwise and got up on his own. "...Sorry," he mumbled, dusting himself off.
"Wow, it feels hot in here. You don't mind if I take my stuff off, do you?" asked Shulk.
"No, it's fine."
"Cool." Shulk took his questionable-JRPG-fashion shirt and pants off, leaving him in nothing but his underwear. Robin took off his coat as well, but nothing more, as he felt self-conscious in front of Shulk.
"Ah, much better. It's almost like I'm wearing nothing at all!" Shulk said, using his clothes as a fan.
"...Uh."
Cue George Michael's Careless Whisper fading in in the background.
Robin glanced at Shirtless Shulk (TM) again and instantly regretted it. He pretended to wipe sweat off his face with his coat, but really he was trying not to get another look at Shulk. Unfortunately, he couldn't hold out for long. He lowered the coat from his face and got an eyeful of beautiful booty.
Oh no hes hot, Robin thought to himself. Suddenly, all he could see in his mind was the booty rocking everywhere, and it made him feel really awkward really fast. Stupid sexy Shulk.
"Hello...?" Shulk waved his hand in Robin's face, but he didn't get any response but a blank stare.
"Robin?" Still a blank stare. "Bionis to Robin?"
Robin stared blankly for a few more seconds, then suddenly snapped out of it. Careless Whisper cut off with a record scratch. "O-oh, hi! Er... did booty something?" His face flushed. "Fudge, uh I meant... Did you need something?"
Shulk furrowed his eyebrow. Robin was acting a little strangely. "Any reason you suddenly wanted to fight?" he asked.
"Oh yeah." Robin mentally thanked Naga for saving him from any potential embarrassment. "Actually, I hadn't fought you in a real Smash battle before. I wanted to analyze your fighting style. You see..." He then went into a long-winded explanation of his new strategy, which I will not explain because I have to keep it a secret until the time is right.
After Robin finished explaining, Shulk put his hands together. "Alright, I think I got it."
Robin stood up, and Shulk stood up as well. "That's great," Robin said, smiling.
"So, see you tomorrow?"
"Yeah, that'll be good."
"Well, bye then."
"Bye."
They both started walking to the warp platform in the corner, and realized they were going in the same direction.
"Well, this is awkward," joked Shulk.
Meanwhile, Robin was internally screaming. It's like when you see someone you know, and you try to give them a handshake... except they go in for a hug, and then you try to hug them, except they try to do a handshake... it's just a terrible mess of awkwardness for everyone. And since Robin maybe kinda sorta had a thing for Shulk, it was even worse. Robin felt like smacking himself in the face, or sinking into the ground, or jumping off a cliff, or even all of them at the same time.
Shulk and Robin took the warp platform back, and then after leaving the hub room, they finally went their separate ways for real this time. Shulk strolled casually down the hallway, to the cafeteria. Robin waited until Shulk had gone to go anywhere else. He looked around to check if no one else was in the hallway.
...Good, no one's here.
He then started screaming "AAAAAA" and ran up the stairs and into his room, threw himself on the bed, and screamed a muffled "AAAAAA" into his pillow.
Robin and Shulk achieved support level C.
Let the Hunger Games Simulator begin. Also, let the yaoi reach critical mass. I'm having way too much fun writing Shulk/Robin scenes. Someone needs to stop me before it takes over the entire plot.
As for the whole monthly tournament thing, Super Smash Bros. for 3DS was released in early October in America. There is a tournament held at the end of every month (including October), so this chapter, the eighth tournament, takes place at the end of May. Just in case you wanted a clear-cut time for when the story was taking place.