Fox McCloud snickers as he hangs up his communicator device and puts it in his pocket, annoyed by the trivialities his friends seem to welcome in such crucial times. Maybe I'm a bit on edge, he thinks. A laugh or two wouldn't hurt anybody, especially under these circumstances. I mean, come on, this is just pitiful.
"Shiek," Fox calls out, looking up to his comrade. "How're things on your side?"
What was formerly known as the Mushroom Kingdom was reduced to rubble and ruins. Bits of the Toadstool castle lay scattered in areas it had no business being. Broken warp pipes, stone wall burned to ash. Such as sight is comparable to a child who has smashed, chewed, and tossed his toys across his room exercising his absolute dominion without a care in the world. Shiek hunches down to pick up a Princess Peach doll. She caresses it momentarily, lamenting the tragedy that has occurred before being called back into reality by her ally.
"No dice," she says coldly without facing him. Fox observes the inner desolate Sheik was radiating and searches his heart for words of comfort. I guess I'm not the only one who could use a laugh, he thinks.
"There…" he takes his time finding the right thing to say. "There was nothing we could have done… I mean, just the two of us. It's not your fault. Don't carry this burden alone."
For a moment, Shiek stands there looking at the doll as if she did not hear Fox's words.
"You think I don't know that?" she finally says with a pinch of scorn in her tone. "Idiot, I know there was nothing I could have done then. No one can stand up against that… that thing, that monster. I'm… I'm too weak."
Shiek squeezes the doll. Ah nuts, Fox thinks. I made it worse.
"No, no, that's not what I'm trying to say," Fox retorts gesticulating with his hands to indicate he made a mistake.
"But you did," Shiek coldly responds. "No one has the power to stand up to that thing…"
"You can't possibly mean that." Fox sounds almost offended. "If that's the case then why even bother with this man hunt? Why bother sending your conscious into the central Smash framework to give us items? Why are you even here in the first place if you don't believe in us?!" he says as he vigorously swipes his right on in front of him.
Shiek finally focuses her gaze on him. She stares at him in amazement and then she finally smiles. Through her mask, it is near impossible to tell. But her eyes had a distinguished glow of content.
"Let me finish before you speak," she chuckles out. "It's what I would have said if things were like they were in Melee. We only won by the skin on our necks and through everyone's contributions. Especially…"
"…Yeah."
Silence forces it's will for a few seconds.
"But it doesn't matter," Shiek responds after a long silence. "Even if he's not around anymore, we can't let that be our crutch. If there's a will, there's a way."
Shiek raises the doll and squeezes it, not out of sorrow but through sheer zeal. Her amber eyes that once radiated happiness now took on a whole view. That is that there wasn't happiness but rather it is amplified by passion and immense faith. Her expression shined so bright, it forced the normally stoic Fox to crack a smirk.
"But I'm still a bit uneasy," Shiek goes on as she drops her gaze along with her expression. The light in her eyes was effortlessly snuffed out. "I feel bad for Peach. Protecting the people of your kingdom is part of a princesses' duties and here…she failed miserably. I understand she was not present at the moment of the attack but to have even one of her people smote…Can you imagine what that must feel like?"
Fox stoically observes Shiek. "While I may not be a princess," Fox says as he walks towards her. "It being my job to protect people of all races across the galaxy, I can kind of relate. Heck, I can probably relate better that you can since that's pretty much my job description. No offense."
"None taken."
"But yeah, not being able to save even one person. It sucks. Big time. Especially when that one person has a family. Especially when that one person is a child. Nobody's perfect. Except there's so much pressure in my line of work to be perfect. Because if you're not perfect, if you're even a quarter of a second too late, it could mean the end of a solar system. Or some kid not being able to go to sleep for the night. I don't know which is worse. Sure, I've lost a few weeks of sleep. But at the end of the day, I can't go on lamenting that I'm not perfect forever. Not when there's people that I can still save."
Almost eight seconds go by as Shiek silently studies Fox.
"Fox…" she finally says after what seems like months. "Goddamn, that was some heavy ass shit. I mean yeah, I said some pretty cloudy things too, but what the hell man."
Fox giggles and rubs the back of his head with his right hand. "I guess I over shared."
"You guess?"
Then, the two join together for a much needed laugh. Fox grabs his sides and arches his head to the sky while Shiek grips her stomach with her left hand, tearing up. After half a minute, the laughter slowly dies out and culminates in the two smiling at each other. Shiek puts out her right fist, the one holding the doll.
"Thank you Fox McCloud," Shiek says. "I needed that."
Fox returns the gesture and their fists collide. With that, Sheik does a bow face and dashes forward.
"Come, stop distracting me," she playful adds. "I'm in the middle of an important mission."
Fox takes a moment to smiles before following her lead.
"Well, excuuuuuuuse me, princess," he says.
"Dick," Falco says after turning his communicator off and stuffing it in his pocket.
"Falco," Marth calls out with the annoyance of a very tired parent. "Stop antagonizing our team mates."
"Yeah, tell that to them," Falco snidely remarks.
"Falco, you know how much Captain Falcon hates spoilers. It's important to respect your allies."
"Pfft, like I care." Falco folds his arms and turns his head to his right to observe the empty Smash Stadium. Over the years, he had grown accustomed to hearing the bleachers erupt with cheers that could be heard from continents away. He never told anyone but he secretly liked the cheering, the admiration of a crowd the population of a small country. He has only experienced this total silence one other time. Falco recalls how easily he was swept away all those years ago. An image of Giga Bowser's massive claws effortlessly hacking him along with Samus and Fox flashes in his mind for a quarter of a second. His pupils dilate as he straightens his posture, leaving his body entirely stiff and cold for a moment that seems like an eternity. Falco, not being one who shows emotion other than annoyed or pride turns his head slightly to see if any of his friends noticed his brief moment of weakness.
With only his left eye visible to anyone who would have been looking in his direction, he shifts his pupil to quickly scan the horizon. Samus and Megaman are discussion the laws of the conservation of energy. Shulk, who earlier let Kirby absorb him, is demonstrating the most effective ways to use the Monado arts with Kirby intensely focusing. Shulk holds his sword the Monado to his side with the edge pointing downward, saying something that is inaudible from where Falco is standing and is enshrouded in a yellow aura. He runs and jumps around Kirby to show how slow he has become and then says something else. Kirby repeats Shulk's motions and is engulfed in a yellow light as well, running and hoping to get become accustomed to his newfound weight. Falco shifts his eye to his right before catching the rest of the demonstration.
Peach has her left hand resting on Donkey Kong's right shoulder with a very sympathetic look on her face. Her lips move but again, Falco cannot heart what has been said. He shifts his gaze to the left to observe Ike practicing his moves on Sandbag alternating between punches kicks and sword strikes. Ike sweeps Sandbag with his Down Smash, lifting it in the air an impressive height due to how much damage it has accumulated and finishes his combo with an Up Smash, launching it into to the sky, shrinking from sight until it is nothing but a sparkle. Ike stands there with a neutral expression on his face.
"Oops," he says to himself.
Showoff, Falco thinks. He turns back to his right only to be caught off guard by Marth's eerie blank stare. His pupils dilate again but he composes himself before jumping.
"What?" Falco asked, putting up a bravado. Marth refuses to say anything. "What?"
Again, Marth is silent. Falco turns his whole body to Marth.
"Can I help you with something?" Falco asks slowly yet noticeably louder.
"You're bothered by something," Marth replies.
Falco is instantly taken aback by Marth's accurate assessment. His eye dilate for a third time and a nearly inaudible gulp escapes his throat. He returns to his previous position and looks in the opposite direction.
"I don't know what you're talkin' 'bout," Falco responds with another pinch of bravado.
"You can't hide it from me Falco. The only way to make it more obvious would be to write it all over your face."
This time Falco was the one who remained silent. He wasn't the type to be open about his feelings. Marth walks over to put his right hand over Falco's left shoulder.
"Falco," he calmly begins. "You don't have to put up a front. That day, we all learned a little bit more about our limitations. Some faster than others. I mean, look at me." Marth grins. "I thought I could slow him down for even a second but boy way I wrong."
Falco couldn't recognize if that was a joke or not. Marth may have had expert rhetoric but his sense of humor at times left something to be desired. Marth realizes his failure in making any noticeable change in Falco's disposition and reverts back to his original serious demeanor.
"But right now is not the time to give in to our fear. We cannot let the failures of yesterday hinder the success of today. Right now, not one of us has the power to stand up to that monster. Last time was already indicator that individually, we're woefully out gunned. But it's not like last time. Look around you."
Marth forces Falco to turn around to see the rest of the fighters. Donkey Kong who only moments ago looked like he had never know happiness wore a very toothy smile that forced him to close his eyes with Peach sharing in the moment. Mr. Game & Watch was using his neutral special Chef flips multiple sausages with the occasional fish at Little Mac, who dodges every article. Ike observes Kirby chase Shulk around with the speed enhancement and put a rare smile. The Duck Hunt Dog launches a clay disc with his mouth. After a few seconds, the disc explodes. The dog repeats the motion again.
"It's not like last time. And we're not alone. We're all doing everything we can in preparation for the coming storm and as long as we've got each other by our sides, we've nothing to fear. It also helps that we're pretty much hacking the universe to win this fight so our chance of success is relatively higher. We will come out of this victorious my friend and we will enter tomorrow. You have my word."
Falco is at a loss for words. He feels as if an entire load was lifted off his back. His chest feels comfortably light. Falco looks down momentarily and chuckles before focusing his gaze on Marth who had a confident smile.
"Get outta my face before I blast ya a new one," Falco says.
Marth taps Falco's shoulder before walking off towards Ike's direction.
Falco folds his arms yet again. "Freaking mook," says under his breath after Marth is out of ear shot with a smile still plastered on his face.