Hi guys, I'm back; with some research done! I'm also back with a new chapter that introduces the plot! No excuses this time, I'm introducing the plot in this chapter; no more fillers, no more lame endings. However, I will tell you guys what happened with Alexis and Link in the prior chapter, but if you ended up skipping the last chapter like I suggested, then the result of that will be at the very end so that you don't have to worry about it. If you did read the chapter before, and are curious, again, everything concerning Chapter One:Part Two is all at the end.
Now, it may start off a little slow, simply because we are introducing the premise. Also that this chapter will not actually involve Wii Fit Trainer, like I promised. So, don't look forward to that, and an example of pan-transitioning from reality to the technological realm. I also promised to explain that better, so the story will be easier to read.
Also, that this Chapter involves a lot of Math at one part. Don't get thrown off because of Math, because I'm the sucker who has to do it XD! But as for the Math itself, it's just simple division, and it's used for strategizing Alexis' attack power for the next chapter, where all the action and stuff happens- and where she'll get her butt kicked!
I want to give you guys a heads-up also that the Chapters are now probably going to range between 6000-10,000 words, simply because I'm bad at keeping a minimum at 4000. So... long chapters are going to be long!
Onto Reviews...
ScarletYandere: O.O we might just be Mewtwo! Yus! I always wanted to be a Mewtwo when I was a kid! And I can't thank you enough for your review! I actually really appreciate your critique at the end. And because of that, I aim on making better endings this time! And I certainly can't thank you enough for telling me what I was doing wrong. :) Also, you will find out what happened with Link and Alexis by the end of the Chapter, since you read Chapter One:Part Two, and I'm glad that you liked Link and Ike. I had so much fun writing about these two, and psycho Palutena was fun because you get to mess with the image of a graceful goddess :D, but I love her either way! Thank you for consistently writing to me, it's highly appreciated and your critiques will help me grow as a writer :)
As for everyone else, thank you for your Favorites/Follows to my story. I hope you will enjoy more chapters as they come.
Though, may I request for more reviews? More critiques actually, just simply because I only hear from one person, and it creates a sort of bias. What others may find good in a story, some others may find bad, am I right. And don't just say 'Oh I hate your story because there's an OC in it', no, but if you found some Mary Sue qualities in Alexis (which, I'm starting to find some, but I might be getting paranoid) let me know! I'd like a review, but I'm not going to cancel the story because of the lacking amount, because I don't believe in that. However, if there is something you don't like in the story and no one says anything, then I'm likely going to go through the story with that key-element that people hate. I really don't mean to come off as desperate or mean, but I want to make the story as enjoyable as possible :)
Also, speak up in a PM or Review if you want to see a Ship happening with your favorite shipping. I absolutely love pairing characters up! (I'm just as bad as Karen! :P)
So aside from the long-winded intro: sit back, relax and enjoy reading!... After we roll on with the Disclaimer!
DISCLAIMER:
I don't own Super Smash Bros. If I did, I'd have a million dollars. And if I had a million dollars… I'd be rich!
Enjoy!
Chapter: 2 Customization ( ch 5)
Starring Characters: OC (Alexis), Peach, Zelda, Master Hand.
Word Count: 9, 765 words
Chapter Prologue: Alexis has been lead over Master Hand's Narration Chambers to be examined with Link and Fox, to find the cause of her being transported here, Peach and Zelda had lead her over to their destination and wait outside for Alexis to finish...
...
Noob
Chapter 2:
Customization
...
Master Hand has noticed something quite disturbing during his time with Alexis, Link and Fox.
Thankfully, the Character Models Link and Fox had nothing particular to do with the current circumstance. But there was something entirely odd about Alexis herself. Given a little more time with her was when he noticed something completely not standard for human biology. There was a part of her that was designated for the game, or just anything that could go online…
He checked for multiple sources in the game, and what could have possibly dragged her in here in the first place; online multiplayer. As far as he can recall, the Players were pitting against each other along with some strangers online at one point. This may have triggered Alexis to appear in the game, given that she emits Wi-Fi.
The concept is entirely strange and whimsical. Why is a human emitting Wi-Fi signals? Not even the Character Models give off Wi-Fi, they only receive it with encoded Adaptors. Which would explain how Link and Fox were the characters who instigated Alexis, since they were being played online. Though, strange because online battles don't unlock characters, but Alexis is exceptional, after all, that she isn't supposed to be in the Roster.
It only leaves him with one question left: Why here? She could have been picked up by cell phone, or computer, or something that can go online that is not structured as this game. Was she simply sucked into the Console? That couldn't be the case because she's in this game; still. Why not just the internet, period? The internet is incredibly easy to access and is constantly being modified by all sorts of websites and social media.
This all didn't make any sense to him, and to make matters even worse, everything is changing and is going to continue changing. Like the appearance of the Smash Mansion; it didn't make any sense to him, and the fact now that the Smash Mansion is completely 3 Dimensional, as opposed to the linear set stages, but surely is was only a matter of time before the set stages become 3D as well. Not to mention, but the Character Models shouldn't necessarily have personalities. Actually, and this world was supposed to turn off when the disc wasn't in, let alone when the Console was shut down. But the Character Models seem completely natural about it, as if this was encrypted into the game: like a recessive gene of some sort. Everyone acts as if everything in their Disc; personality, relationships and general physics of how everything works here is completely normal and as if this has been happening since forever. It even fooled Master Hand at one point, having thought that he could simply just teleport the Characters into his 'Narration Chambers' of the 'Smash Mansion'. None of this would have happened if Alexis didn't appear in the game like she did, and it felt good that he could differ between the rights and wrongs of the Game Setup.
But even then, his judgment on how the game even works comes into question. He wonders what actually sets him apart from everyone else in the game, enough to know how this game is actually supposed to work for both the Characters and the Players. He couldn't help but laugh at the fact that Fox expected him to simply just teleport him into a room that wasn't really supposed to be there, and he inwardly poked fun at himself for thinking that's how things actually worked in here.
Nevertheless, all of this was too much for the Hand to digest at the moment. Everyone was beyond confused at this point and he didn't want to stumble upon the subject even further.
For now, Master Hand didn't want to tell Alexis too much about what is going on with her Wi-Fi signals, given that it would startle her greatly. Even scare her, or perhaps depress her. Especially after the conclusion of dealing with the situation temporarily…
...
"WHAT!?" she yelped, shaking vigorously, curled up and hugging her legs in a desperate attempt to not lose her sanity.
The Hand and Human sat alone in the Narration Room at this point, for the sake of privacy and causing commotion for the other Characters. But it was how loud she screeched that could've caught the attention of some of the other characters who patiently waited for her at the other side of the door.
The epic conclusion steered to a sad solution that is to upload her as a Character to the Central Hub officially. Meaning that she'll lose every bit of her humanity. As much as the Hand didn't want it to be this way, the reason being is that her effect on the game as a human will cause a stir to Reality as it already had for the players in their current Disc. And as that would happen, the Developers of the Game will update the Game itself and terminate Alexis completely from the Data. She might as well have been dead.
He told her about how everything is actually supposed to be, how no one is supposed to have humanly qualities such as personality, relationships and even thoughts. How there is no life after the console is shut down, and there is no 'spiritual connection' with the Player. And all of this nonsense happening because of her.
But rephrasing everything to herself in 'Simpleton Language', she refuses profoundly. She says to him, quote on quote:
"Master Hand, what you're trying to say to me is that I am a lifeless puppet to these Players outside of the screen, to fight for their entertainment." At this point, salty tears well up in her eyes as she was still a human, and it was only natural for her to react this way. She choked up a growl at the word entertainment, but forced herself to continue anyway, as much as she really didn't want to be reminded, "And when they shut off the Console, everything becomes black!?"
At that last part, the human shouted at the floating hand. She managed to earn sympathy from him, but never any empathy. It was odd to him to feel even as sympathetic as he does, but it wasn't fully enough to understand how much figurative death means to her as a mortal.
As for her, she felt utterly hopeless. A small part of her told her that this was unjust, that she doesn't know what she did wrong, and that she has a Family at home that needs her.
But the majority of her felt selfish. She was easily forgotten by her brother Jordan, probably her mom as well, and her friends, as if there wasn't difference between her presence and evanescence. In fact, it was not a big deal because she simply didn't matter to them. And she wasn't going to ruin a stupid videogame for the Players who really didn't know any better. She felt herself becoming angrier by thinking about everything that is happening to her right now, and how wrong it sounds, but she really is so small in the grand scheme of things. As much as she morally wanted to give in, innate desperation rises to surface in concern for her treasured mortality. In a last attempt to convince him to spare her life, she sobs.
"I know you probably don't understand, Master Hand. But I…" she pauses before persisting with her original bargain for life-saving empathy, a part of her said to herself that it was useless, and that she's sounding utterly vain at the moment, but that pesky fear of death and loss of her previous life was getting to her conscience. "I have a Family up in the real world. And I was supposed to be with them until I was supposed to die."
As much as she didn't believe in fate, religion and voodoo, she couldn't help but feel like there is a greater force that imprisoned her inside of this game to pretty much die without leaving a mark on the Earth, even though it's realistically impossible to jump inside of one.
As for Master Hand, he stumbled on the word Family. But couldn't decipher whether or not to tell her what exactly he found when backtracking her current data (or 'genetic' code in her case). You know, the Wi-Fi. The Wi-Fi is fully compatible to connect to the Central Hub, where she could upload as a regular character and there would be no harm. But a part of him trembled at the word Family. He couldn't put a finger on it, but something about it made fate seem mendable to him...
A decision has been made, but upon trying to make a decision, he patiently waited for Alexis to say even more, in which she gratefully took the chance for self-pity.
She kind of hated herself right now.
"Master Hand, I know I might sound ridiculous right now, but doesn't it feel good to have the freedom that you do right now?"
On the Other Side...
"Actually, it does feel quite good…" Peach muttered to herself as she and Princess Zelda huddled against the door. They were the only ones there at the time, aside from Fox and Link who respected Alexis' privacy, unlike the other two. As much as Zelda felt horrible for disobeying the superior Master Hand by listening in, she felt really concerned about Alexis and wanted to be as resourceful as she could. To be honest, the characters felt almost natural like this, and couldn't remember being a 'lifeless puppet' to begin with. And now that she thinks about it, she feels uneasy about… what was the word? Oh yeah: dying.
Zelda bit her lip at the thought. She didn't want to ruin the game or anything, but liveliness just felt so good. At the same time, she was a little mad at the situation where a human made their way inside their dimension just because. It didn't make any sense and she was just as bitter about the idea of fantasy as logic was.
Meanwhile, Peach was a different perspective. She was going to be selfish. She doesn't want to experience nothing. Something about life fancied her; laughter, romance, identity.
A little dignity. Peach has made her decision, declaring it with a loud knock on the door.
"Peach! What are you doing!?" Zelda hissed between clenched teeth.
"Declaring independence!" Peach cheers, earning a look from the two occupants who weren't being complete snoops.
"Are you crazy!?"
"No, my name is Peach!"
Zelda couldn't help but laugh at the other princess. There was a sudden warmth in her chest. It felt good to laugh like this, and even if this game pitted them against each other as 'enemies', if felt good to call Peach her friend in the end. She chuckled at the thought of sounding like Ike, and how much it would break his heart to know what terrible fate reality may have in store for these characters.
Zelda, in the heat of the moment knocked loudly on the door and shouted anyway, chanting with her friend "And my name is Zelda!"
Peach giggles at Zelda, who goofily joined her. "And he's Link! And that's Fox!" she introduced in a cheer to nothing, pointing at the two in said order.
Link couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at the two, while Fox leered at them, slightly irritant. "What are you two going on about?"
"Fox, do you want to die?" Zelda interrogated with a slight adjustment of volume in her voice, startling the other two tremendously, especially with the word 'die'. It almost felt as if Zelda was threatening them.
"Um, no."
"What's your name?" Peach instigated a cheer for Fox.
"Fox McCloud." He mumbled, unsure of what they were doing.
"What? I can't hear you!" Zelda cupped her hand around her pointed ear to exemplify.
"Fox McCloud." He spoke firmly enough, but apparently it wasn't enough as the two princesses both cupped their ears.
"What was that?"
"Fox McCloud!"
"WHAT?"
"FOX McCLOUD! MY NAME IS JAMES FOX McCLOUD, DAMMIT!" the vulpine shouted enough to break the sound barrier. But he wasn't so much angry more than just impressed with himself that he had the ability to shout like that. Wow! It was powerful enough to send him into shivers, but the kind of shivers that felt… relieving. Like as if he was holding that in.
Peach pat Fox on the back with a small grin, "How did that feel?"
Upon realization, Fox grinned back, "Strangely enough, that felt really good."
"What's your name?" Zelda perked up.
"Fox McCloud!" he cheered, joining in on their little parade, even though he has no idea what's happening right now and why it's happening.
"Link! Say something!" Zelda ordered the mute.
"…"
"Link."
"…"
"I don't care if you have to shout gibberish! Say something!"
"…"
*STOMP*
"GyyyyyyaaaaaaaAAAHHH!" the Hylian Hero cried in the very pique of excruciating pain.
"Much better~!" Peach giggled innocently after releasing the stem of her high heel shoe from Link's pinky toe.
"What in the Console is going on in here?" Meta Knight authoritatively charged into the room after hearing Link cry.
"Who are you?" Zelda quirked up an eyebrow, obviously playing stupid. Meta Knight didn't know what they were doing, but he played along anyway with a pinch of suspicion.
"I'm Meta Knight."
Peach repeated the process of what they tried on Fox. "What was that? I can't hear you since Fox just busted our ear drums a moment ago."
"My name is Meta Knight." He glowered.
The emphasis on his name drew in the attention of some new faces like Rosalina and her combat buddy Luma, Robin-(M), and as well as some of the older Smashers like Marth and Pit.
Robin found Zelda parading about with the others, where he decided to go in for the kill.
"Hey, Zelda baby~!"
Zelda rolls her eyes at this, "Do I know you?"
"How could you forget?" He smoothly cuts in that question while he swiftly approached behind her. As annoying as Robin was to her (when he's not 'dead', per say), she had this mushy feeling in her gut whenever he would treat her like this.
And she kind of likes it.
She moves away from Robin and presses even further into what she started, this time with Robin. "What's your name?"
"You can call me whatever you want—!"
"Your name, Robin?"
"… My name is Robin, yes." He finalized, very confused. What is she doing?
He could only observe everyone following the trend as well, with a quirked eyebrow of course, as they too probably had no idea what this was about.
"私の名前はマルスです!"
"My name is Pit!"
"I'm Rosalina! And my little friend here is Luma!"
"My name is Robin… I guess?"
…
"Yoshi!"
It was really hard to concentrate when everyone was outside yelling their names, much to Alexis and Master Hand's confusion.
Both of them were slowly getting annoyed by the increasing noises and chatter outside of their door.
"My name is Ness!"
Master Hand was annoyed because as much as he would try to ignore them much more for Alexis' issue, the more noises entailed as the distraction of getting anything done.
"My name is Villager!"
Alexis was getting agitated because these characters were distracting away from something important to her and life concerning.
"Jigglypuff!"
However, she couldn't help but feel slight relief wash over her, as they distracted the Giant Hand from submitting her into the game.
"My name is Luigi!"
Nevertheless, this was getting far too outrageous. Master Hand excused himself between the two of them and floated over to the door of his Narration Chambers, whipping it open is where he saw Zelda and Peach standing at the very door where they had lead on a whole entire line of characters (pretty much almost thirty of them there). They all stood there, staring up at the Hand as if nothing happened, when the Hand knew very well what happened. No one said anything to risk getting into too much trouble, but neither could they leave, because they knew that he knew what was happening.
It's an absurd paradox that they couldn't really get themselves out of, so they simply just stood there, bug-eyed at the floating Hand.
"What are you all doing out here?" the question was almost rhetorical coming from the hand, in which no one really wanted to respond to that for the sake of avoiding confrontation. He was surprisingly calm in reaction to all of this but his relaxed demeanor didn't really convince anybody past his burning rage.
Well, except for Fox, who saw how all of this started:
"Umm… Peach and Zelda were listening in on your conversation." He began modestly as Peach shot the Vulpine a glare, "And then they started shouting their names, and they told people to shout their names, and that's how all of this started, I guess…" The last part of his sentence crumbled into mumbles to the glare that only sharpened.
"… Figures." The hand sighs, irritant for the lacking privacy he has received. "Well. There is no use hiding it from you two; why don't you just come on in, and then we will talk."
Now, Peach must have been oblivious to the Hand's tone of voice as she proudly marched her way into the Narration Chambers. Zelda, on the other hand, couldn't help but feel that pang of guilt seethe into her soul.
As for everyone else, they followed like sheep, clueless as to if they were invited.
"What are you all doing here?" Master Hand questioned the crowd with a hiss, "I requested to see Peach and Zelda only. Not any of you." Peach turns to the floating hand with her hands on her hips, exactly to express an expectant gesture.
"Master Hand, I think everyone here has the right to know what's going on. I'd invite the entire mansion in on this."
"Are you—?"
"Crazy? No, I'm Peach. And everyone else here has a name too."
Master Hand knows where this is leading, and Alexis' presence is to blame. Alexis' humanly genetics are decoding the recessive genes of the Character Models.
Should they even have recessive genes should be the primary inquiry.
Everyone else took the advantage to march their own ways inside of the Narration Chambers while Master Hand pondered to himself. He was stuck on various things like the 'recessive genes', and how he even knows all this, how this even started, why she was here, why all this is even happening. But the one that haunted the Hand the most:
"Master Hand, I know I might sound ridiculous right now, but doesn't it feel good to have the freedom that you do right now?"
And as for that, he couldn't tell. He feels that he knows everything: how everything is supposed to be in the game (unlike the other Character Models), how things play out in Reality and other sources of Wi-Fi, but all at the same time, he doesn't know enough. And ever since this Alexis predicament, he's quite anxious to learn more.
He scolded himself for sounding like Zelda; her and her nasty habit of snooping, all in the name of knowledge. Gee whiz.
Turning his focus back at the matter at hand. He couldn't say much, as it seems that the Character Models have wound themselves into a discussion already. There was an aching in his pinky when Fox asked; "Peach, what were they talking about in here? We're all dying to know."
"That's exactly it, Fox, we're all going to die!" Peach retorts, which didn't hype much of a reaction from everyone else, since death was a new concept to the Game. Zelda pardoned herself to dig further into their understanding, based off of everything that she heard.
"Master Hand said to Alexis that he wanted to transfer her into the Central Hub as a new Character in our game."
"…" was as much as everyone understood. Even Peach didn't fully comprehend the technical terms, but she knew the gist after hearing Alexis repeat the concept in simpleton language. Zelda tries to explain again, in simpleton language.
"After she gets transported, we won't be able to move around, talk and think. We won't have the freedom we do now." This explanation was building tension in the room, "All we know now and who we are won't matter then, because we'll see nothing but black and will be limp rag dolls for the Player to control." She quoted that last part at the thought of Alexis, starting to build up an unrelenting grudge against Master Hand, though she didn't fully understand why things should be the way that they were fated.
As for everyone else: they were initially scared of their upcoming bleak future. They surely don't know what it's like being dead, and they certainly didn't want to find out. Soon after processing what was said, there was a protest amongst the Character Models; fighting for the sake of their 'lives'. Nothing violent of the sorts, but the characters did feel pretty desperate at view.
"Master Hand, since when was this established?"
"Why would you want to kill us?"
"I'm scared of the dark!"
There was a blur made up of Videogame characters and teary eyes, as Alexis couldn't help but stare at the riot that was happening before her. She couldn't tell if she was feeling relieved, or especially selfish. All in the meanwhile, she couldn't tell if she felt sorry for these characters or not for the right reasons. One part pities them because their 'people' too, but at the same time, they being 'people' that get controlled by a greater force. Wouldn't that be easier to deal with if they were dead?
As she argued with herself mentally, so did the Hand. Now that everyone knows, transferring Alexis to the Central Hub won't slide by so easily without a protest, alike to what is happening now… not that he minded the protest, but there was a part of him that would miss the company of liveliness, and the liveliness of all the characters around him.
Now it was his turn to hate himself.
"Enough!" He called out and gathered attention and glares all around him. "I understand. I really do." He admitted that remorsefully. He had taken in a deep breath, knowing that she would be transferred to the Central Hub eventually anyway, what is to happen when the time comes is beyond him, but until the time comes, a part of him wanted to embrace what life he was living as of now.
"Alexis." He turns to said human, who shook lightly. She wasn't aware what was happening.
Why is everyone quiet?
Why are they staring at me?
Why are they smiling?
"Welcome to our little Family, Alexis."
...
Family? Oh no. That hand is horribly mistaken. Alexis has a family at home that she's worried about, this Family is the exact sort of family that she didn't want to get herself into.
Now she really hated herself, but on the plus side, at least she's not dead. At this point, she really didn't know what to think, just to let, um, nature (?) take its course.
As of right now, Master Hand had requested Peach and Zelda to lead her into the Custom Fighter Menu (now called the 'Upgrade Compartment' in the Smash Mansion).
They were going to register her move set into that of a Mii Fighter; well, her Specials to be exact.
"You know, I wouldn't have guessed that you would have been a human, Alexis." Peach mused to herself out loud as they headed to their destination—with a map this time. "Though I can't say that I'm necessarily surprised."
"I think we should feel a little more grateful, since she has given us the opportunity of independence." Zelda chuckled as she glimpsed at the human who is just as much of a nervous wreck as ever. The elven princess sighed and patted Alexis lightly on the shoulder, "Is something the matter?"
"Well," Alexis began, a little more relieved about these Characters being relatively calm about her being a human. She thought that they would have eaten her, or something crazed and presumptuous like that. "I'm just feeling a little homesick right now, is all..." She admits sheepishly, earning a wave of the finger from the perky princess in pink.
"But for now you're here, Alexis. Until we get this sorted out, you're stuck with us!" Peach giggled, she couldn't help but feel excited for the new Character. "Which just might be for eternity- Not that I mind!"
At the thought of eternity, Alexis shuddered. She had nothing against these people, but eternity seems too long, as the thought plays in her head about everyone in the real world moving on with life, and dying like normal people.
… On the plus side, Master Hand did say that I'm technically immune to death…
She felt incredibly guilty at the thought.
Upon entrance of their destination, through the door, Alexis had to go in on her own to decipher upon three options; Brawler, Swordfighter, or Gunner. She wasn't necessarily sure what to choose. She hasn't really used any sort of weapon before, except for maybe a stick to whack her brother with, but she didn't end up hitting him. As for using her fists… she had joined wrestling at her school one time, but that has nothing to do with fists, does it?
However, more so than she is used to fighting with a blade or a cannon (in which the contraption freaked her out more than the sword), she wants to use her fists, because it feels more natural to her. Sure, that cannon looks more effective than her own hands, and same with the sharp sword that was also an option. But knowing her, and her lacking experience with fighting with anything but her own hands, she would most likely end up hurt herself before hurting everybody else. And if hurt is what she has to, despite her pacifistic ways, she will hurt.
Choosing the Mii Brawler selection, she continues on with typing in her name onto a small keyboard that slipped out in front of her, in which she did: Alexis. Though, she struggled with having to come up with something really funny like Poopswiggler or Monkeybutt to take the Players (like her brother) by surprise, there just wasn't enough space. So she solidified her character name as Alexis, only to meet with Zelda and Peach at the other side of the room.
The Upgrade Compartment was a nice, vast white room with a Sandbag in open range to practice, whilst all the upgrades were stored in the back. Simple really, enough for the Characters to figure out on their own.
First to expect was the Equipment to solidify the characters attack power, agility and defense.
"As of now, you are a Computer." Zelda began informatively, "We don't need a Player to control you right now, since the System is not being used. We will take this time to develop your Move Set. The time is 3:00 A.M., Eastern." She lifts the lid of a large container where few badges were sprawled out at the bottom, only to exemplify emptiness.
"These are what we like to call Equipment," Zelda explains to the Human, "It's more of a Custom Fighter option, but given your current situation and who you are as a human, I think you'll need these to help you get around in here."
"To continue testing, Alexis, I want you to punch me in the face!" Peach chirped, bearing her face out in the open for Alexis to hit her.
"… What?" the human retorted, unsure if she really wanted to. Alexis was always told to avoid conflict, and Peach has demonstrated a very awkward example. She would have refused if Zelda hadn't cast her that expectant stare, so she obliged. She hit Peach, her knuckles collided right into the princess' jaw.
And she didn't flinch.
This confused the human, so she tried again, only harder. Actually, hard enough for the human to hurt her own hand.
Peach still didn't flinch.
"Zelda, what's the percentage taken away?" Peach asks as she turns to her friend.
"It's 0%. It's worse than I thought." Zelda sighs, casting Alexis a sad smile, "Looks like we're going to have to set you up with Equipment as Default, lucky you."
Alexis raises an eyebrow, "Why's this?"
Peach giggled "Because the Equipment isn't used sometimes in our matches. Equipment are upgrades that make us more powerful characters. Since you're getting Equipment as Default Standards, you'll be a very powerful Character while we're on Default. Probably even more powerful than us." She explains to Alexis as she reaches for a cord that was hidden well inside of the bin. The thought of being strong drew a short-lived smile on her face. A disc-operating system appears in front of the three of them from the inside of the bin, where the inside of the lid of the bin flashed a holographic image of a screen that displayed an empty stat chart. Alexis glanced curiously at it, noting the titles Attack, Defense and Speed at the top left corner of the screen, trying to piece everything together in her head.
"However, there is a series of obstacles that you must overcome when facing us. Because you aren't registered as an official character in our game, upgrades won't be available to you like everyone else. So if everyone fought with their upgrades on, they'd be just as powerful as you would be with more powerful Equipment." Zelda clarifies to her as she gathered all of the badges in the bin in front of them, sorting through them. She shared a short frown at all the badges she found. "We don't have much, and they certainly aren't that strong. But they're something." She transfers the badges from her own arms to Alexis. "Here we have three Badge Types: Strength, Agility and Defense. Are you familiar with these terms?"
Alexis nods her head in response, but a little unsure if these abilities qualified for a completely different meaning in the videogame world.
"Good, now we want you to stand on the podium over there." Peach commanded the newcomer to something that looks similar to the Wii Balance Board that she has at home. Soon after Zelda followed up to her to set her badges up for her by placing the three different badges on different parts of her body in a random order, then hooking them up to cables that lead up to the disc operating machine inside the bin. Alexis could feel herself get pinched by the badges, but it wasn't anything too troublesome.
"Well, to make you a more balanced character, we chose one of each: for Strength, we have chosen the 'All-around Trade-off Brawn Badge.'"
All-around Trade-off Brawn Badge:
Attack - - (+5)
Defense - - (–13)
Agility - - (+/– 0)
Special Feats: 1. Improved trade-off ability.
"For Agility, we've chosen the Item Hitter Boots. This will increase your speed, but drop your Attack by 24 points…"
All-around Trade-off Brawn Badge + Item Hitter Boots:
Attack - - (+5) – 24 = (–19)
Defense - - (–13) +/– 0 = (–13)
Agility - - (+/– 0) + 6 = (+6)
Special Feats: 1. Improved trade-off ability (All-around Trade-off Brawn Badge), 2. Battering item boost (Item Hitter Boots)
"Oh, Alexis, your Attack and Defense aren't looking so hot… How about we add a Defense Badge? Like the Safe Respawner Jacket?"
All-around Trade-off Brawn Badge + Item Hitter Boots Safe Respawner Jacket:
Attack - - (+5) – 24 = (–19) +/– 0 = (–19)
Defense - - (–13) +/– 0 = (–13) + 9 = (–4)
Agility - - (+/– 0) + 6 = (+6) – 20 = (–14)
Special Feats: 1. Improved trade-off ability (All-around Trade-off Brawn Badge), 2. Battering item boost (Item Hitter Boots), 3. Extended respawn invincibility (Safe Respawner Jacket)
Results:
Attack - - (–19)
Defense - - (–4)
Speed - - (–14)
Special Feats:
1. Improved trade-off ability (All-around Trade-off Brawn Badge)
2. Battering item boost (Item Hitter Boots)
3. Extended respawn invincibility (Safe Respawner Jacket)
Balanced
"… That's good, right?" Alexis asks with little hope, noticing how Zelda and Peach gawked at the results on the screen in front of them.
"Well…" Peach started to chuckle sheepishly. "At least you're balanced!"
"On the plus side, you do have some advantages over us, like a longer respawn invincibility time. You could also deflect Items easier than us."
"Okay, but what about my power? Has that improved?"
"Umm… perhaps? But it's a little more than just having power. Why don't we test it out by having you hit Peach again?" Zelda suggests as she begins unhooking the badges from the human. And of course, Peach braces herself for the punch.
And as told, Alexis makes her move and punches Peach in the face with all her might, having Peach stagger for a short time.
"How much of a percentage did that take away?"
"… 1%."
"That's good, right?" Alexis jumped up, with a little too much enthusiasm. Zelda casted her a pitiful frown.
"Not really." She bowed her head down slightly, "Though at least you landed a hit. That's always a good sign."
"Well, you might be the weakest character on the Roster." Peach admitted with a shrug, "But I'm sure things will get better. Eventually." She turns to her elven friend, "Is there any other badges? There's got to be something better for her!"
Zelda bit her lip and shook her head, "These were the only ones I could find for her, other than that Gluey Edge Brawn Badge, but it wouldn't make much of a difference right now."
Peach sighs as she turns to Alexis, "Alright then, why don't we try out some Specials?"
"Specials?"
"Those being probably your strongest attacks in the game. You have three to choose from. However, unlike your Equipment, we can't interchange between Special Moves without the Player becoming too suspicious. So you're going to have to pick an attack and stick with it for the rest of your time here." Zelda tells her and points at the podium once again, "I want you stand on the podium so we can install some Specials."
At her command, Alexis stands on the podium, but this time, a small, square section of the floor in front of the pad where podium where she stood opened up and presented a screen that displayed Specials. There was Standard Special, Side Special, Up Special, and Down Special. Now, Alexis struggled with understanding the whole Equipment conundrum, but this Special-talk was even more confusing. Zelda, however, caught the expression on Alexis' face; her eyes a little wide with a quirked brow. So, the elven royal enlightened the human the best that she could.
"When the Player uses the instrument called the Controller, they use a certain 'Button' that emits our Special Moves. But as Characters, it is our role to correspond our moves to match up with the Player's commands." She told her, "Lucky for you, you get to choose what your moves are, which will determine what your most powerful moves can do."
Alexis turns back to the screen, seeing what the Special Moves had to offer:
Standard Special:
Shot Put: This iron ball makes an impact, but it doesn't go very far.
Iron sounds like it would hurt! But, it not going very far is kind of lame… Plus, I don't think I'd be able to lift it, I'd probably drop it on my foot or something. Next!
Ultimate Uppercut: A devastating uppercut charged up with all your might.
Devastating? Well that seems pretty effective, so I'll put a tab on that one.
Exploding Side Kick: A kick so explosive, it'll set the world on fire (or at least your leg).
… What kind of attack is that!? Explosions are dangerous, and quite frankly I like my leg!
Upon seeing that Alexis was taking forever, Peach chose the third one for her:
Exploding Side Kick
"Peach!" Alexis cried desperately.
"Alexis, this attack is recorded to be the most effective move for the Mii Brawler Standard Special. We need something to make you suck less."
Alexis didn't know how to respond to that. She couldn't tell if Peach was trying to help, trying to insult her, or plotting murder.
"What Peach says is true." Zelda cued in as a second voice to Peach's reasoning. "The record high for the Shot Put is 14%, the Ultimate Uppercut is 21%, and the most effective being the Exploding Side Kick, which deals 24%."
Alexis quirks up an eyebrow. "How's that any different from the Ultimate Uppercut? It's only 3% better!"
"True." Zelda contemplates, "But both attacks are strategically different. While the Explosive Side Kick strikes full force and hits when the time is right, the Ultimate Uppercut is not only timed, but should be perfected by charge."
"What do you mean by that?"
"You see, the Ultimate Uppercut is most powerful when charged. The charging process is perhaps ten times a longer process than the Exploding Side Kick's charge time, and to reach the top critical hit requires protecting that charge that you're building up." Zelda informed her, "It may sound simple, but the Character Models are quick, which would require quicker dodge time. Now, imagine if you ended up protecting that charge, then you would have to time your critical move. Personally, I think right now, dodging is a bit out of your league. And in the future, you'll learn to use the Explosive Side Kick with appropriate strategy."
Peach giggled at the thought of Alexis in the same outfit as Captain Falcon. "Oh! I can imagine the look on every Players face when they see a female powerhouse character!"
Zelda chuckled at her friend, "Don't we already have Robin-(F), Samus' Powersuit and Palutena for that?"
"Yeah, but Alexis is probably going to be a pretty burly character!" she laughed, earning a frown from Alexis, but it was ignored. Zelda scanned over Alexis to search out for some 'burly' features when not even a minute later, she couldn't help but crack open a sly grin.
"Yeah, but something about that outfit screams out a more docile image than hostile!"
While the princesses were laughing at Alexis' duck-covered footy-onesie pajama, Alexis was on the brink of silent tears: first she's stuck in a videogame, nobody in the real world remembers her, and now these videogame characters were making fun of her duck-jammies.
She loves her duck-jammies.
Peach makes her way over to the human and pats her back to console. "It's okay, Alexis. At least Marth likes your outfit." The princess casted a smug grin at her, causing Alexis' cheeks to tint a bit rosier. Zelda rolls her eyes at her friend.
"Oh come on! He likes your dress too, Peach." She began, flustering the other character lightly, "and your hair, your eyes…"
"Okay onto the rest of the Specials!" Princess Toadstool spat out hastily, lifting a triumphant smirk on Zelda's face.
Perspective:Reality...
Jordan couldn't sleep. Something about yesterday felt particularly weird to him, he just couldn't put his finger on it. There was something about that Alexis character. He wanted to research where she came from, but unlike the rest of the characters in the game, she didn't have an emblem. Like how Legend of Zelda characters have the Triforce, and Super Mario characters have the signature Power-Up Mushroom. She didn't have anything, and it was very strange.
He decided it was time to decode a mystery on the internet using his iPod, only to find nothing about this character on the Smash Bros Wiki, or the official website where all of the Roster was shown. In response to this, he was slightly creeped out. Was she perhaps a broken character? He checks other sources for the actual character, only to find anything but the character he saw on the screen with those stupid pajamas.
After all, the only thing he knew to type in the search engine was 'alexis super smash bros'. The only things that Google found was YouTube gameplays with one of the many videogame commentators playing the newest installment to the series. Evidently, her name was Alexis. This Alexis wasn't very popular on YouTube and looked nothing like the girl in the videogame. Alexis from the game was slender, slightly tan and had long, tamed brown hair. The videogame commentator had more orangish hair and was all around bigger than the girl on the screen.
He also found some results on Fanfiction about a girl named Alexis who gets sucked into a videogame. It's about 5 chapters long and was written by a user named rockflavouredicecream. As tempted as he was to read it, he remembers this girl named Samantha warning him about the terrors of fan fiction, and how weird they can get. So as told before, he avoided it.
It was about an hour later at 4:30 A.M. where he decided to go back to sleep. He wanted to play the game to see if that same character would be there again, but he knew he'd wake up his mother.
Problem was that he still couldn't sleep.
4:45 A.M. he wanders the halls, fingers tracing along the bare walls, just to breathe, but passed by the Living Room multiple times, staring at the Wii U. Tempted to check, but not wanting to be caught. So he continued ambling the halls aimlessly, thinking about that character. Thinking about her so much that there wasn't enough air in the house, so he slipped out into the back porch, where no sound was heard. Jordan had seated himself on the swinging loveseat, inhaling the warm summer air and all the allergens the floated amongst it.
4:48; now he remembers everything that he hates about going outside, so before he completely suffocated out of an allergic reaction, he spins on one heel and marched his way inside. Quietly enough for no one to notice him, he's taken by surprise that he hasn't been caught yet. Normally he's super clumsy, especially without his glasses on like now.
He treads his way up to his room, making note while passing the living room to try playing the videogame again when Mom was awake. But when he finally reached the hallways on the second floor on the way to his room, he noticed a door further down the hallway, past his own and his mothers. He snuck across the door, peering in on his mother's sleeping figure in a quick glance, noticing how stressed she is, even when she sleeps. Her breath is shaky and hitched into short breaths.
Sometimes, he blames himself for his Mother's stress and ideally wishes to be stronger; enough to protect the both of them.
He sighs softly and heads over to the mysterious door that was past hers. It was a chestnut color like all the rest, but it had the words 'loser' and 'dork' carved onto it, if you look closely enough and notice that whoever did the paintjob to cover that up did it terribly. He couldn't help but laugh at the lacking maturity carved into that unfortunate door…
He also noted that this mysterious door was also locked, similar like the one under the stairwell.
Perspective:Smash Mansion...
"Alexis, we're starting to run out of time before daylight." Zelda alerts the human. "Let's clarify what we have for you so far…"
Character: Alexis
Attack - - (–19)
Defense - - (–4)
Speed - - (–14)
Special Feats:
1. Improved trade-off ability (All-around Trade-off Brawn Badge)
2. Battering item boost (Item Hitter Boots)
3. Extended respawn invincibility (Safe Respawner Jacket)
Special Moves:
Exploding Side Kick - - 12% Damage
Onslaught - - 5% Damage
Piston Punch - - 6% Damage
Foot Flurry - - 7% Damage
"Wait Zelda." Alexis called out, thinking about her results bitterly, "I thought you said that the Exploding Side Kick caused 24% Damage Points."
Zelda thought for a moment, before the epiphany hit. "I believe the damage cost for the actual attack had been deducted in half because of you being a human."
"What makes you say that?" Alexis quirks up an eyebrow.
"Well, remember when you punched Peach, before we installed you with the Badges? There wasn't any damage ratio. Now that we have them installed, but into a human, the attack power decreased greatly."
"That would probably go the same for your defense…"
"And your agility… But never fret, because I'm sure you'll get better, as soon as we get you some more Badges!"
"Yes, and as you slowly transfer data into the Central Hub by simply being here, the Badges will probably become more useful to you as you become a permanent member to our Family." The voice took the ladies by surprise, only to find out that it was Master Hand: the last thing Alexis wants to see right now, besides Link. The Hand sounded amused when he called it a Family, either because he likes the feeling of bonding with the other Character Models, or simply because he knows it bugs Alexis. Perhaps both? Either way, liveliness is bliss to him.
Alexis turns to the hand with a pout, "Could you stop calling it a Family? Please?"
"What's wrong, Alexis? Are we not good enough?" Peach whimpers, genuinely hurt. Alexis has to admit, she's relieved that these Characters accept the fact that there's a human in their game—at least as far as she knows with all the characters she's met so far. But as far as she's concerned, she kind of likes Peach and Zelda, and Ike… maybe.
However, it's generally hard to say, because she has a Family where she really belongs. How are they doing without her? She doesn't know, but from what she's heard from their little conversation before starting that match, they seem to be fine; in which she is relieved but all at the same time is angry that they could forget so easily. More so, she's also angry at herself for having to change lives (or the not-lives) of the Characters and the entire Game itself, all because she's being selfish. Most of all, she's angry at fate for doing this, and being inevitable all in the meantime.
She's very confused at the moment, and excuses herself from the conversation. "Yeah, you guys are great and all, but I… need to think for a bit. Continue on without me!" she was obviously trying to avoid getting too in depth with talking about it, just in case she would hurt anyone's feelings (namely Peach's), as she headed for the entrance.
"Alright, but Alexis, I want you in your cubicle." Master Hand tells her before she had the chance to fully leave, she stops to hear the rest of what he had to say "It's almost 6:00 in the morning and the Player could choose to play at any time."
Alexis smirks to herself, very well knowing who that Player might just be: Jordan. She informs the Hand in a soft chuckle, "He does usually get up early, but just know that his curfew is at 9:00."
As clueless as Peach and Zelda were to the word curfew, Master Hand nodded a pointer finger at her. Subconsciously empathizing, but more or less understanding that she is a human, so it's more than just possible that she actually knows the Player.
About now is when the human made it out of the room, heading over to her room—right before she could get any sort of direction from Master Hand, so guess what? A given moment later; she's lost!
So dense, Alexis. But what's even denser is that she was too humiliated to ask for any sort of direction from anyone. She watched a whole assortment of 'freaks' pass by, all of them trying to get to their rooms. She of course, was trying to find hers, when a familiar Star-Fleet Commander noticed that she was headed for the 'Pool Room'. Fox wasn't at all too familiar with the Mansion, but he did circles around that same hallway to know that their Cubicles weren't located around that area.
The Vulpine swerves his original direction to keep up with the Newcomer, she notices him and stops in her path—hoping that he's one of the more friendly Characters.
"Alexis," Fox began, "I've been looking for you."
The human raises a brow, "Have you?"
"Yeah, I have this little device here… I believe this is yours, I've been trying to give this back to you for the longest time." His laughter comes off more to be a sigh. His entire hand unravels to reveal her phone in mint condition—much to her surprise, and somewhat relief.
She's still very confused about earlier.
"Wow…" She gaped, mesmerized by the cellular device in her palms. She couldn't thank the Fox enough, because this phone might just root in for her escape. She turned to him with a large grin worn on her face, coming off slightly giddy, she beams "Thank you so much! You have no idea what this means to me!"
"No problem, kid." The Vulpine chuckles it off. "But you still have to get to your dorm, so don't thank me yet."
Alexis paused, thoughtfully, but managed to question the Character. "What are you talking about?"
"Well for starters, you're heading the wrong way!" Fox retorted in a somewhat sardonic manner. He spun the opposite direction in the narrow hallway and marched along the flow of people. "The cubicles are this way." The human follows the Vulpine in the said direction.
"Yeah, thanks!" she laughs as she caught up with him again, "Thanks for, um, leading me in the right direction." As weird as talking to a giant, bi-pedal fox was to her, she inwardly reminded herself that this was normal here.
"Do you know where your cubicle is?" Fox had brought a very good question up to surface. She didn't really how to respond to that without seeming super dependent on him, but Fox had detected guilt in that kind of silence presented to him as reply.
"I think I know where it might just be."
"… Thanks again."
CHAPTER 1:PART 2
SEQUEL BONUS (read if you read chapter 1 part 2)
...
Alexis glances around her Cubicle (room), observing the environment where she will do everything; from sleeping to reading, chilling and whatever she feels like at the time. Similar to her old room, but smaller and less of her own stuff. Actually, there's pretty much nothing in her room except for a bed and a book shelf. She curiously ambles over to her bookshelf to see what she could read, since it was apparently too early to text someone in the outside world.
Jordan doesn't have a cell phone, her mom's at work, and her friends are asleep.
Why aren't I panicking enough?
Master Hand had warned everyone that the Player may be getting up soon, so the fighters are to wait in their rooms patiently for the Player may turn on the System to play at any given time. Alexis knew enough to respect that, as much as she just wanted to get out of here. She groped the top shelf to find a single book on it, labeled 'Records'. She opens the book curiously and only finds blank pages. A little disappointed, she places the book back down on a lower shelf and hops onto her bed, pulling out her phone, looking for any texts that her friends may have sent her.
Nothing. Because the phone isn't charged, remember? She can't even turn the damn thing on!
She sets the phone aside and stares up at the ceiling, moping. Her phone is dead. There's no hope. Or might not be hope, but has faith that some character in this game would have at least something that could charge her phone; but that all seems ridiculous and just impossible.
She started to think back about her Mom, Friends and especially Jordan; knowing that he was somewhere at the other side to the screen, watching her fight and probably playing as her own opponent.
"Alexis?"
A soft voice had the poor human's ghost jump out of her own body. She peeks over to see someone that she sort-of didn't want to see: Ike, standing by her door wearing a worried expression. Right now, she was very confused about this Ike character. First he's a greasy-chicken monster, then he's overly nice, then they're apparently 'friends' when almost immediately after he tackles her to the ground nearly crushing all her limbs. Only reason that he didn't crush all her limbs is because of the physics in this videogame. Imagine if this was reality!
"Ike?" she pressed on further, a little thrown off course from the earlier startle—wait, isn't he supposed to be in his cubicle?
Before she could ask that, he continues to invade into her room, glancing around the area with a grin. "Look at you now! You've got a cubicle, just like us!"
Just like us? That's never a good sign, but it's inevitable.
"Yeah, I guess…" She muses to herself, shifting awkwardly as her gaze drifting off to the side, simply refusing to meet Ike's. Ike sensed the uncomforting atmosphere and leaned against the wall looking over to her, but cautious.
"Alexis."
"Ike?"
"I'm sorry." The mercenary bowed his head down apologetically, as Alexis herself had risen up to see him.
"What are you sorry about?" She inquired, only half-clueless.
"I'm sorry about tackling you down like that…" He begins, "along with Palutena, Little Mac and Sonic."
Retracing to the exact memory, her eyes narrow and her gaze becomes stern. "I don't understand what that was about. Why did you guys attack me like that?"
Ike fumbled with his fingers nervously, "Well, we thought you were going to attack Link! Little Mac, Palutena and I didn't want a fight to break for anyone to get hurt—!"
"So you hurt me instead?"
"That wasn't our intention. But our question is why did you try attacking Link?"
"I didn't! I wanted to have a talk with him! I wanted to ask him why he was attacking me, and he ran away!"
"He attacked you?!" Ike practically jumped at that moment.
"Well, yes." Alexis admits sheepishly, "But this was while the battles were going on…"
Ike's anxious hype had softened into a gaze that read 'are you kidding me?' Alexis felt especially embarrassed by this and coiled her head the other way.
"You realize that Link was being controlled to fight by a Player, right?"
Alexis had let a hearty breath out of her chest, "I didn't know that at the time." The only reason she didn't want to see Link was simply because she was embarrassed, not even mad anymore (though, she can't bring herself to trust the guy completely). She's madder at herself for every given reason before: the entire sucked-into-videogame fiasco as a whole.
Ike's sigh curves his lips into a genuine smile as he made his way over and sat beside her. "I heard from little birds that you're a human. Is that right?"
"…"
Ike chuckles to himself, "You sound just like Link." Earning a glare from Alexis, he responds "He's a nice guy, Alexis. Everyone here is nice to each other like a big Family."
"Ike, I don't belong here—"
"But you do right now." He beamed at the guilty figure that glances up at him warily, "And for as long as you stay, I want you to promise me something!"
"What's that?"
Ike grins, much like a child. "Enjoy your stay."
Surely he must be joking. After all that's happening, he tells her to enjoy her stay? She gave him another glare that didn't faze that dumb grin he's wearing with undeniable pride (or ignorance). "Well, it's kind of hard, don't you think?"
"Well, you will eventually. But why not now?" He suggests.
"Ike, you don't seem to understand—"
"Oh no, Alexis. I understand completely!" He exclaims, but was interrupted from saying anymore because all the lights in the Mansion recolor into a hue of red, as the piercing sounds of sirens blared through the speakers. Alexis was taken aback by the sudden change in the environment, grasping onto the blankets that she nearly jumped right out of.
"Ike! What's going on!?" She cries to be heard over the sounds of alarms. Ike as calm as ever begins to stand up and head towards the exit into the hallway. How is he so calm right now?
"It just means that the System is turned on!" He yells to her before leaving officially. "I'll see you later on the battlefield!"
She waved at her friend (if she even wants to call him that) when he left, only to await for anything to come, but an unexpected flash of white light to drown out the current life around her.
TO BE CONTINUED...
Hi again everyone~! Now, reading about this chapter I noticed that there was a lot of unfamiliar terms like Central Hub and certain pieces of lore mentioned in the First Part of Chapter One (Chapter 3 on Fanfiction) and I quickly want to clarify what certain things are before we continue on, just in case some people are still confused.
Hub is basically where the Game of Super Smash Bros. is being developed, it's where everything was being created and where all the future updates and stuff is coming from.
2. Alexis isn't really supposed to be here in the game, so that means setting her up with a moveset means that I had to divide the Mii Fighter's general attack power in half. But the reason that the badges are set as her default attack power as opposed to just power-ups that everyone else gets is because she's not a Mii. She's a human, and without them she wouldn't be able to lay even a finger on anyone. So hooking her up to the Badges made her even less human, so we're slowly killing her anyway, like Master Hand had mentioned before.
If anyone has anymore questions about the lore that I have mentioned before and just don't get it, send a PM about the issue and I'll explain it as best as I can. Or if you aren't a User on Fanfiction, let me know in the Review and I'll explain it in the Disclaimer, as best as I can.
Also, I want to point out that I'm not planning on having Alexis in a relationship with any of the characters (unless I get 20 votes on 'yes'). However, I am planning on a one-sided character crush. It's a surprise! So I'll have you guessing whether she's going to be crushing on mystery character, or mystery character will be crushing on her. Maybe both? Who knows! But the idea's still in Alpha Stage, so let me know if this is what you guys want or don't want.
As for shipping, I have Marth x Peach, which I think is totally cute by the way! Let me know if you want any character with another character, and I will be happy to ship!
On a general note, I'd like to hear what my readers are thinking when they're reading this story. Let me know in a comment: compliments and especially critiques are always welcome! Complaints should be discussed by PM, but not if they're flames. Senseless anger is disruptive in a demographic I wish to keep rather friendly.
Remember that these stories are for fun, not for fights. And I'm saying this on behalf of all of the authors on the site who put all of their hard work into writing their stories and get flames anyway. If you have a complaint, let's calmly discuss about it and solve the issue over a friendly intervention :)
Thank you for reading my story!
- Rocky :)