A Walk Among Giants, Chapter 45: Altered Ego.
Happy New Year everyone!
Special cool cat thankies to:
Joeclone: heh yeah they probably hope that too.
UltimateCCC: all in due time bud… all in due time…
3.
2.
1.
GO!
Lucina and Dark Pit waste no time charging in on their opponents. Charizard swoops in with a claw attack as angry embers drip from his mouth. Lucina quickly rolls behind the dragon while Dark Pit takes to the air. Lucina then begins to dice up the fire Pokemon with very rapid slashes. Mega-Man trying to take advantage of Lucina's focus on his partner moves in for a sneak attack. However before he can fire off his arm cannon a purple arrow strikes him from above, he quickly dashes back as several more come his way. Dark Pit lands in front of him and separates his bow into blades, he turns and gives a quick nod to his partner who smirks and returns the gesture. He dashed at the blue bomber who started throwing saws at the dark angel. Dark Pit sidesteps the attack and continues to dash at him, in turn mega man does the same while firing his arm cannon.
Meanwhile Lucina grabs the ledge of the stage after being grabbed and thrown by the fire starter. He quickly dashes to the end of the stage and prepares to smash a rock on her but she quickly jumps up onto the stage avoiding his attack. As she lands he comes at her with a fire spin attack knocking her back a few paces. She counters with an upwards slash sending him back towards the edge of the stage. She quickly follows this up by dashing towards him and delivering an upwards jab sending him reeling higher in the air. She then dashes to the side as he comes back down and tries to stomp her. He then proceeds to flamethrow her, making her promptly bring up her shield. He stopped as the flames died down and in that brief second it took him to compose himself she dealt a heavy forward slash towards him. This knocks him out of the stage, she quickly jumps after him however while charging her forward jab. And when they were lined up perfectly she unleashed her attack sending him spiraling out of bounds and exploding in a flash of multicolor lights.
"Player 3, defeated!" The announcement boomed all over the stadium as cheers erupted from the crowd.
Megaman brings up his leaf shield as Dark Pit fires off more arrows at him. The dark angel then dashed at him, attacking by spinning his blades rapidly and shielding himself from further attack, forcing Mega-Man back. That's when Lucina jumps over her partner and deals a downward slash. Mega Man however counters this with a surge of electricity sent spiraling upwards. He then dashed forward towards Dark Pit while spinning rapidly, effectively knocking the dark angel back. Lucina quickly comes in from behind trying to deliver some quick slashes but he jumps away. He tosses an explosive at her which latches on and she starts dashing to avoid the damage. Dark Pit then takes hold of him and smacks him a few times before he turns and tosses him off the stage. Mega-Man wastes no time in recovering and getting back up onto the stage. As he does Lucina rushes him making him quickly roll onto the stage. What he didn't realize is that they were hoping for that. As he rolled right into Dark Pit's electroshock arm which sent him flying off towards the blast zones at rapid speed since Dark Pit had dealt a fair amount of damage to him already. He disappears into a flash of multicolored lights ending the match.
GAME!
And the winner is… Blue Team!
The announcer called out as the crowd began to roar with excitement. The simulation ends shortly thereafter and the image of the battlefield stage flickers away.
"I'd say that's a new record for us," Dark Pit says with a grin of amusement.
"Hmm, unlikely," Lucina says while looking in thought. "Our battle against Mr Game & Watch and the Duck Hunt duo was significantly shorter than this one if I recall correctly." She says while he gives it a thought as well.
"Actually yeah, I think you're right!" he says as they both materialize back into the portal room.
"Congrats on the victory you guys, you're both killing it out there!" Pit jumps out at them holding two thumbs up.
"What else do you expect from the best?" Dark Pit says while crossing his arms with a sadistic smile.
"Yeah…" Lucina says while rolling her eyes. "Aren't you up next Pit?" She asked the angel who took out his bow and held it up high.
"Yup! Just waiting on my partner. I'm going to give it my all out there today. I wouldn't want to fall behind Pittoo!" He says while patting his counterpart on the shoulder. Dark Pit however scoffed at this.
"I think it's a little too late for that pal." He remarks.
"Oh don't listen to him, I'm sure you'll do great out there!" Lucina says to him while grabbing Pittoo by the face and shoving him away.
"Yoshi!" The little green dinosaur appears behind Pit waving at his partner enthusiastically.
"There you are, are you ready to win this thing!" Pit says while once again holding his bow up.
"Yoshi!" The dinosaur replies while holding up a fist.
"So…" A distinct feminine voice says from behind the angel making him go stiff. "You're my victim for today?" Bayonetta appears behind Pit while the color drains from his face. "I hope you put on more of a show than this one," She remarked while stroking the side of Dark Pit's face while walking around him. The dark angel however scoffed at this remark.
"I went easy on you lady, don't flatter yourself!" he says as a matter of fact. She laughed at his statement before walking away.
"good luck, you're going to need it!" She says as she leaves their sight.
"I'm so dead…" Pit whimpered before gulping hard.
"Oh don't be a wimp!" Dark Pit mutters before walking away while shaking his head.
"Don't worry about it so much, she isn't as difficult to handle as she appears to be. I'm sure you'll still do great out there regardless of who you're fighting since you're a very skilled warrior." Lucina assured him while patting him on the shoulder before following after her partner.
"Oh hey guys, amazing work out there!" F Corrin says as she enters the portal room.
"Thanks, are you scheduled for a match too?" Lucina asked the newcomer.
"Yes, in fact my partner just passed by here not too long ago!" She says while motioning towards the back of the room.
"Pfft, Bayonetta is your partner? Good luck with that!" Pittoo remarked with stifled laughter before pushing open the door and walking off.
"Don't mind him, he's just broody because she got the jump on him." Lucina says while F Corrin silently 'ohs' while looking back.
"He has a bit of an ego then?" She says while turning back to the Bluenette.
"You could say that, however trust me when I say this. He's vastly different from how he was at the beginning of the tournament." Lucina says, "you could say that he has a bit of an altered ego" she adds before following after the dark angel. "You're not going to stay and watch Pit's fight?" She says as she quickly catched up to him.
"If I wanted to see Pit get the snot beat out of him I'd do it myself." He says while heading towards the arena's exit.
"Aren't you the one who said it would be anti-climactic to skip a fight?" She remarks.
"Yeah, when it involves me" he says, rolling his eyes at her.
"But it does involve you, come on you know Pit looks up to you at times. He always appreciates you when you're there to show support for him." She informed him while he groaned and slumped his shoulders.
"Fiiiine, I'll go!" He says before he starts heading back towards the smashers private area of the arena.
"Really just like that?" She asked surprised.
"Well I know if I don't you wouldn't have stopped yapping in my ear about it!" He remarks as they step into the elevator.
"Keep telling yourself that" she says, "you know you want to see your brother win this to compensate for what happened yesterday." She teased.
"Do you want me to leave? Cause I'll go if you keep yapping!" He says while pointing a thumb behind him.
*In the arena*
All the Combatants appear in the arena apart from one another, right before the stage begins to rumble and a bubble engulfs the stage. They are all then suddenly on the skyworld stage and get in battle positions as the timer begins to count down.
3.
2.
1.
Go!
"Come on!" Pit says as he swings his blades around before dashing towards Bayonetta. Further below them on the lower levels of the stage F Corrin and Yoshi engage in their own battles. She smirks while Pit tries to attack her with a dash attack but she moves being him and delivers a kick to his back while making him crash against a part of the stage. He tries slashing at her but she brings up her shield blocking his attacks, before sweeping one of her legs under him knocking him back from the impact. She jumps after him and delivers two kicks in rapid succession while they're both in the air. As they land she summons a limb from under him but he side steps the attack and slashed at hit, this time landing a hit and pushing her back. He breathes out heavily preparing for his next attack and also getting more vigilant. She was a lot faster and more precise than he anticipated; she barely gave him any wiggle room to counter. He fires an arrow but she backs away from it and at that moment he hits her with a dash attack sending her off stage. He quickly jumps after hoping to push her further out but she quickly comes at him with another quick double kick. Knocking him backwards while also allowing herself to get back onto the stage. She summons another limb from under him but he dashed at her again and hits her with an upward slash, and jumps after her and deals several more slashes while they're both in the air.
When they land, she quickly counters with an upward attack of her own. Dealing significant damage to Pit while also sending him straight into the air. She then sends him crashing down to the ground with a giant foot. She dashed at him as he stood up again and he quickly began slashing in front of himself repeatedly to deter her. He got off a few hits before she vanished and reappeared with her flock of bats. She then sends a giant fist his way which he rolls behind her to avoid, but she quickly follows up with a limp from under him which hits him dead on and sends him up into the air again. It then gets into a stalemate with both of them dodging attacks while also being unable to land a hit. That is until charges an upward slash attack in hopes of doing high damage, however she quickly brings up her shield and tanks the attack. In the seconds it took him to recover she once again struck him dead on with a limb from under him. As he comes back down he grabs her and sends her into the air jumping after her and spinning his blades to deal her damage. She backflips however and kicks him in the process, sending him back. When they land she does a handstand while shooting off towards Pit very rapidly making him bring up his shield.
Down below he catches a glimpse of Yoshi knocking F Corrin off the stage, he jumps after her and as she tries to recover headbutts her in midair making her plummet straight down and disappear in a blast of Multicolored lights.
Player 4, Defeated!
The announcer's voice booms over the stadium while the crowds erupted into cheers. Pit grins to himself as a rush of excitement washes over him, it was now two against one. "Oh boy you're in for it now!" He calls out overly ecstatic.
"Good, make this fun for me!" She says before aiming her weapons at him. They both dash at each other again and she sweeps at him but he dodge the attack and tries to slash at her. She brings up her shield again before sending a fist his way completely knocking him off the stage. He panics as he is sent a good way away, almost reaching the blast zone. He quickly begins to flap his way back towards the stage. He sees Yoshi come at her with a headbutt but she rolls behind him before grabbing him and throwing him straight up. He was about to slam down to the stage but she summoned a limb under him knocking him further into the air. Pit lands and begins to dash at her but she handstands again forcing him to bring up his shield again. Yoshi comes rolling towards her while in egg form, she jumps up however avoiding the hit before she comes back down with a powerful kick pushing the green dinosaur away. Pit tries going at her but she entends one of her legs and begins to fire at him making him take to the air to avoid the attack. She smiles before dashing towards him, making him do an aerial dash towards her and going behind her. However this too she anticipated and jumps up while doing a backwards kick and actually hitting him dead on. With the massive amount of damage he had this sent him spiraling off stage and disappearing in a flash of light.
Player 1, Defeated!
Yoshi comes running towards her looking to avenge his partner, he tries headbutting her but she brings up her shield blocking the attack. She then grabs him and throws him off stage as he tries to recover; she begins to repeatedly fire at him with all of her weapons switching between stances. He then launches an egg at her forcing her to move back before he begins to kick upwards propelling himself back towards the stage. However much to his horror she was waiting for him with a charge attack. "Ta-Ta!" She says before a fist comes at him, it hits him with great force sending him spiraling towards the blast zone at great speeds before disappearing in a flash of lights.
Game!
And the winner is… RED TEAM!
The announcer calls out while the crowd roars with excitement and the bubble around the stage disappears and with it the image of skyworld.
"Drat, I almost had that!" Pit says with a huff as he and Yoshi materialize back into the portal room.
"Yoshi…" The green dinosaur replies while patting the angel on the back.
"I'm sorry if I let you down, I got a little too reckless and clumsy with my attacks." They hear from the other portals as Bayonetta and F Corrin appear. "I barely had time to process what I was doing as this is all still so new to me…" She adds while slumping her shoulders.
"It was also my first time in a smash battle," Bayonetta replies while adjusting her glasses.
"Yes but you were amazing out there!" F Corrin replies flabbergasted.
"Practice makes perfect, I'm sure in time with enough practice we'll be the most formidable duo here." Bayo says, giving her a wink before walking off. "They won't know what hit 'em!" She added before she disappeared from view.
"I've never even been in a proper battle before…" F Corrin mumbles to herself.
"Yoshi!" The green dinosaur says while approaching the newcomer.
"He says he had a fun time battling with you," Pit says while walking up to them and patting his partner on the head.
"Oh thanks, it was all exhilarating to me. I was a tad bit worried there since I believed I'd bore you with my poor performance…" She replied timidly while tapping her index fingers together. "You were just so fast and I barely landed any hits after all."
"Yoshi," he replies while waving her off.
"It's fine, the majority of us were like that when we first started, we were all like deer caught in the headlights. We didn't know what was coming until it hit us." Pit says while she stared at him puzzled for a moment.
"Headlights?" She asked.
"Ah right, forgot, you've lots to catch up on still." He says with a slight smile, "worry not though that phrase will make more sense to you in due time."
*smasher exclusive area*
Dark Pit leans back in his seat and lets out a long and loud yawn. "Pit-stain got his ass kicked, who could've seen that coming!" He says sarcastically.
"I have to admit, for being a newcomer and all Bayonetta handled herself very well out there. Most of us tend to run around like headless chickens." Lucina says.
"Speak for yourself, I laid out Link on my first match." Pittoo remarked before taking a sip of his slurpee. "What I'm surprised about is how Master Hand managed to introduce three new fighters in the same day without anything going wrong." He says with a slight grin of amusement.
"Well it was pretty early in the morning, everyone was either waking up and dazed and or hungry since breakfast took a little longer to be served today." Lucina says while Dark Pit looked in thought for a moment.
"Speaking of which, I am getting a bit hungry now." He says while rubbing his stomach.
"You just ate like three hotdogs!" Lucina says in disbelief.
"That's not food! That was an appetizer if anything, you know something before the main dish!" He states before burping very loudly into his hand. "Oof, I can still taste the onion in that!" he says.
"You're unbelievable," she remarked before getting up and walking away.
"And that's what makes me so special!" He says with a large sadistic smile before following after her.
"Why am I putting up with you again?" She says while holding her head and slowly shaking it.
"Awh come on Blue, don't hate me cause I'm beautiful!" He replies sarcastically before she turns to give him a look.
"I pity you because you're stupid," she remarks, making him fake gasp at her.
*later*
Samus was sitting behind a large desk on a large computer displaying several holographic images while she typed away. She kept going through some data files as well as watching any and all security footage available. However the more she dug the more she found inconsistencies in the data as well as outright missing files and data. She then began downloading files onto her tablet showing all the data or lack thereof.
A large door in the back opens just as all the holographic images disappear. Zelda and Peach walk in while it seemed they were in a debate of sorts.
"Samus back me up here! Tell her that it is scientifically proven that the fastest way to a man's heart is the stomach." Peach says while placing her hands on her hips.
"No it is not, that is just a misconception caused by simple reactions which could be exaggerated due to that individual's preferences. Such as just because he said 'I love you' while eating some of his favorite dishes is due to the rush he's feeling at the moment, not some long term effect that affects one's feelings towards another!" Zelda countered while pinching the bridge of her nose. "And Samus here has enough common sense to see that and therefore agree with my statement." Zelda adds while motioning towards the bounty hunter.
"I've told you both before to leave me out of your squabbles," Samus replied while leaning back in her seat. "But Zelda is right," she quickly adds, making the princess bring up her arms and cheer for herself.
"Yes! What did I tell you!" She gloats.
"Oh what does she know…" Peach huffs and turns from them. Right as the door opens again and Link and Marth step in followed by Master Hand.
"Oh good you're all here already," he says while they all take their seats around the table.
"Didn't you say to be here at this time, why wouldn't we be here?" Samus remarked while he stood there for a moment before clearing his throat.
"Right, right, anyway we've been seeing a renewed interest in the tournament as of late due to the latest batch of new arrivals. So with the new spark the tournament is in full swing again, which brings me to the following: I'm going to need you all to be extra vigilant now to make sure we keep this thing on track now. Thus far we've had a very bumpy road leading here and I'd like to avoid any more obstacles that come our way." He explains while inserting a drive into the large desk that brings up various holograms of charts. "As you can see here the battles we had earlier had the stadium packed to capacity we literally ran out of seats!" He says motioning towards one chart showing a massive spike of numbers.
"Question?" Peach says while raising her hand.
"Yes?" He asked while turning towards the princess.
"Where's Mario?" She asked while motioning to his empty seat.
"He's out on business," MH replied simply.
"What business?" She pressed. He sighs and appears to roll his eyes but it was hard to tell.
"Some investors got in touch with us about some brand new merchandise for us, with the new boom of interested it is projected to do very well and also continue interest in more ways than one." He says, "now stop getting distracted and focus your attention over here!" He adds before moving a hologram towards the center. "Now if you see here according to our data the number one thing that started the decline was our audience felt the tournament was becoming a little too repetitive. So what we should do is start implementing new rules that would make things more interesting for them." MH explained before he finally took a seat on his large chair at the center of the desk.
"Well we could do each battle with special match rules." Link suggested as he looked towards the others.
"We tried that before remember, we did special brawl matches last time and we got multiple complaints that we were giving unfair advantages towards certain smashers." Marth interjects.
"Crap you're right, I forgot about that…" He says while snapping his fingers.
"Well we don't need you guys just spitballing this, take some time if you need and see what solutions you come up with and get back to me later." Mh says while Link slowly raises his hand. "Yes Link?" MH turns to the Hylian.
"Does this mean we still get to go to lunch?" He asks timidly while Zelda turns to him and gives him a look.
"Yes Link you may go and join the others for lunch," MH sighs and shakes his head while Link strikes a pose. Just before Zelda smacks him on the back of the head. "Now onto other news, we've actually been asked if our smashers would like to make an official Q and A by a popular media site. This would not only keep the fans closer engaged with their favorite smashers but once again keep further interest, thoughts?" He continued as a new hologram enlarged showing the media site in question.
"Yeah I'm down I wouldn't mind some one on one with my devoted followers," Link says with a casual shrug while looking towards the others.
"You make it sound like you're starting a cult," Peach remarked
"I think it's pointless," Samus states.
"Well of course we could make it optional" MH suggested.
"Oh come on Sammy, why wouldn't you want to meet your fans?" Peach asks while shaking her by the shoulder.
"Because I already know there is going to be that one prick that asks 'when's Ridley joining?' Just like before!" She argued.
"That was one time, and also let us not forget that due to the backlash of your negativity, we literally had to add him as a stage hazard in this tournament to appease the fans." Zelda says while Samus just crosses her arms and turns her head from them and huffs.
"That's another issue we must contend with, we're going to have to monitor all interactions and place many restrictions as well to make sure we don't end up with another bad publicity stunt as some of our more outlandish smashers tend to be more unhinged." Marth spoke up.
"Don't worry I'll handle everything from a software perspective, now you all need to have a pep talk about how to interact properly with the fanbase." Samus mumbles still pouting like an angry child who got denied a cookie.
"I think we're pretty covered on that," Zelda says confidently.
"Really?" Peach interjects while placing her hands on her hips, "because thus far you both have not been able to refrain Ganon from referring to the fans as 'peasants' and 'weaklings' since melee!" Peach says with a scoff laugh while pointing at the two .
"It's not like you've been able to keep the reins on Bowser either, remember that time he started a so-called 'revolution' with his 'loyal subjects' that ended in a riot?" Zelda retorts with a sadistic smirk while the princess was at a loss for words.
"Yes that was very unpleasant, I'm still dealing with the backlash from that event!" MH pipes up.
"We could just restrict access to those who we can consider a risk from participating," Marth suggests.
"Believe me if it were that simple I'd do it in a heartbeat, but then we'll have non stop complaints from the fans about why they can't interact with their favorite smasher!" MH replies with a frustrated sigh.
"Well I say whoever has a complete menace as a favorite smasher needs to re-evaluate their life!" Peach states while slamming her hands on the large desk.
"Yeah… make sure that's not one of the things you say online." Zelda quickly adds.
"Well it's true!" Peach huffs.
"Regardless we can't or rather won't alienate anyone for their preferences." MH says before he taps his hand on the table as he thought for a moment. "And there is also the issue we've had before with these 'trolls' trying to get a bad rise from the smashers,"He adds.
"Already on it, I have compiled an algorithm that will react to certain keywords and phrases." Samus says nonchalantly.
"How can you be sure nothing will get past your security check?" Link asks.
"Because I am very thorough when it comes to my work, nothing gets past me " She reassures while looking towards Marth who awkwardly shifts in his seat. The lunch bell rings throughout the mansion shortly thereafter.
"Well I guess this meeting is adjourned, we'll meet back here within the week to discuss further advancements to the tournament, dismissed." MH finished before he stood up and snapped his fingers and disappeared and the hologram ended.
"Well I better go and make sure everything is going smoothly in my mess hall" Peach quickly slides out of her seat and walks away while the click of her heels echo.
"I need to go as well, we need to go and check in with the team rejuvenating the library." Zelda quickly follows after the fellow princess.
"And I am going to go and get my lunch on!" Link stands up and pats his stomach before heading out while whistling to himself.
"Are you going to join us or are you still going to stay locked in this room like we've been doing for quite some time now?" Marth asked the bounty hunter across from him.
"Can you blame me? We've had a security breach. Scratch that we've had multiple security breaches already. Meaning I have to take my job more seriously and not to mention keep better logs." She replies while he leans forward.
"We have R.O.B for that though, I think he's done a fine job thus far," He adds.
"Unfortunately R.O.B has been compromised," she shrugged.
"Oh? By whom may I ask?" He pressed.
"Well that has yet to be determined," she replied.
"You're getting paranoid then" he remarked. She turns to him for a moment as if to study him; however he remains completely stoic, not giving anything away to her.
"Fine if you're going to be this persistent I might as well go join the others." She says taking the tablet into her hands and standing from her seat. That is until Marth stood up and placed his hand on it.
"I don't think it'll be necessary to carry that with you don't you think? I mean the point is for you to get your mind off work and intermingle." He asked while she looked at it for a moment.
"I can work and intermingle with my colleagues at the same time I'll have you know." She states.
"What is so important that you refuse to break away from it for even a moment?" He questions, "whatever it is I'm sure it can wait" he adds.
"..." Samus keeps her gaze on the device for a moment before looking up at him. "I'm so close though" she says after a moment.
"Well do you mind if I take a look maybe I can help speed the process up," he suggests. However as he tried to take it she tightened her grip on it.
"That won't be necessary," She says, "you've made your point though I'll leave my work behind and mingle." She adds and places the tablet on the large desk and slides it away. She then motioned Marth towards the door.
"There's no rush, we have time to look over whatever it is you were looking at," Marth says.
"There is no need," Samus insists.
"Because you don't trust me anymore, is that it?" Marth crossed his arms while Samus kept her back to him.
"What makes you say that?" She says while turning her head slightly.
"Because ever since I kept you from getting whatever petty revenge you wanted against Roy. You have become more relentless in trying anything to get back at him. But that also means you're trying to get back at me at the same time." He says before she finally turns to him.
"Well the truth is if you have nothing to hide then there is no reason for you to think I'm trying anything against you." She states sternly before crossing her arms.
"Aren't we supposed to be partners here? So is it too much to ask to have a little trust in what I do?" He says.
"It's not that I don't trust you," she begins, "but like I said before I have to be thorough and double check everything." She replies.
"Samus, believe me when I say somethings are better left alone," Marth adds before he walks towards the door. "I won't stop you nor interfere however whatever it is you hope to find I hope it's worth all the trouble." He says as he stands at the entrance, "and no I'm not defending Roy or whatever you may be thinking." He adds before he walks out the door and disappears into the hall.
Samus looks back at the desk before letting out a frustrated sigh, she picks up her tablet and walks out of the room. Now there was a little nagging voice in the back of her head but she decided to ignore it and proceed as she originally intended. Master Hand did personally ask her to investigate further since he himself was suspicious of some going ons around the mansion. She didn't want to betray her partner's trust either as ever since they were both assigned as elite six partners he's always had her back. But at the same time she has built up a reputation with Master Hand ultimately leading to him having the utmost trust and respect for the bounty hunter. It wasn't easy getting to where she is but now she had to wonder, was it worth it if it meant she had to alienate all her peers. She stops in the hall she was in staring at a large door with a card reader on it, she begins mentally groaning to herself. She takes out her ID card and places it against the reader. Several clicks come from the large door before it begins to slowly open to reveal a dimly lit hall going down. She begins descending the steps which lead her into a long narrow hall eventually leading to a large statue of a half naked man with a left glove for a head. She puts her ID in its palm making the statue sink into the ground before the wall behind the statue begins to open up.
"About damn time!" Someone from within shouted in a very irritated voice. Samus walks in and sees Dark Link at the center of the room with tiny gloves crawling all over him. A few seconds later they all poof away before Crazy Hand, in his human form, comes falling from the ceiling and crashes onto the floor.
"Crazy, take a snack break, why don't you," Samus says while throwing a bag of candy off towards the back of the room. Crazy howls like a wildebeest and crawls over to the corner before he begins smacking on the candy. Except it started to make him sleepy and he eventually fell face first to the ground snoring obnoxiously loud. "I'm going to make this brief, you are being given a very rare opportunity here. Now you either cooperate with us or you can spend another week or two here with your new friend over there." Samus says while motioning towards Crazy with her head.
"No, no I fold, I'll do whatever you want, just get me the hell out of here!" He pleads while kneeling in front of her completely defeated.
"Good now come with me" she says, grabbing him from his arm and dragging him out of the room.
"Please just promise me one thing, please tell me I'm not going back in there, just promise me that!" He breathes out completely exhausted.
"Well now that all depends if you play ball or not," she replies before shoving him forward. Instead of coming out the way she came in some doors in the back open up revealing a secret elevator. It looked very well made and ornate and lined with gold railings and red carpet. Samus shoves Dark Link inside before she steps in herself and presses a large hand shaped button. The door closed and a soft piano tune of the final destination theme played overhead.
"Have you guys caught DTL yet?" He asked curiously.
"He's been in custody for a while now, I tracked him down myself. However since he was merely an accomplice to your scheme. He didn't get a share in your ultimate punishment, doesn't mean he got off lightly either." Samus replies while he nods softly.
"He was just blindly following my lead, you can't blame the boy he doesn't know better." He adds while she scoffed at him.
"Obviously he didn't know better, look at who his mentor is." She retorts while motioning towards him. The doors open up shortly after and they appear in Master Hand's office. The hand in question was behind his large desk expecting them. Samus shoves Dark Link out of the elevator before walking him towards the desk. The elevator doors close behind them before a large bookshelf slides up from the ground concealing it.
"Good just the troublemaker I've been meaning to see, how are you boy?" MH says while standing from his seat.
"Do you really need to ask!?" Dark Link retorts while motioning to his bruised and broken body and the ragged clothes he wore.
"Ah my apologies let me fix that for you," He says before snapping his fingers making DL get surrounded by a puff. When it cleared he was in new fresh clean clothes. "Now boy, I'm going to give you a once in a lifetime opportunity here!" MH begins walking over and patting the dark on the back. "Let's step into the back office shall we?" MH says as he leads him through a door in the back, this room looked like it was floating in the middle of space with a single metal desk in the center and three chairs. Samus and Master Hand take a seat on one side and motion for him to sit on the lone seat on the other side.
"Now you carry very and I mean very important information with you, you manage to not only bypass our magic prevention barrier but also sneak cursed objects into the mansion as well." Samus begins while Dark Link looks away.
"What of it?" He remarked simply.
"You tell me everything you know, how you know to do what you did, and more importantly who knows of this as well, do this for me and all your crimes are forgiven." Mh says very sternly while leaning forward and clasping his hands together.
"Of course you could also choose to refrain from revealing anything to us and go back to finish your sentencing. Or you know we could just decide to put you back where we found you since you'll be a major security risk to us." Samus explained further while leaning back in her seat and crossing her arms. "Choice is yours, either way we'll be getting rid of a security risk one way or another." She adds with a slight shrug of her shoulders.
"If I do help you, I'll be the most hated man here." He breathed out while clenching his fists, "nothing and no-one will ever have anything to do with me, either way I'm getting a bad deal here." He states.
"Should've thought of that before you tried to literally erase one of us from existence," Samus retorts.
"You dug your grave, now you must lay in it." MH says, "So what will you do?" He asked the dark . Dark Link looked back and forth between the two of them before he hung his head.
*mess hall*
Everyone sat around the table in complete silence, looking at the newcomer at the end of the table with puzzled looks across their faces. Finally he groaned before giving everyone a bored look.
"Alright what's wrong with everybody?" M Corrin asked.
"Weren't you a woman this morning?" Roy asked while scratching his head in confusion.
"We weren't drunk off our arses again were we?" Shulk asked while rubbing his chin deep in thought.
"I was never a woman!" M Corrin states, "you must be referring to that poser tarnishing my good name!" He adds with a scowl.
"This is like my first week all over again where Robin and Raven were making me lose my mind!" Roy says while rocking back and forth in his seat.
"So… Twins again…" Ike begins, "anyone sensing a pattern here?" He adds while looking around the table.
"What pattern?" Marth asked boredly.
"Well first there was the Robins' then the villagers, the fitness trainers," he says while looking around the table. "I'm willing to bet that in the next tournament there'll be the same amount or more of these 'twins' same as this one. As in a pair of them being children, and 2 pairs of adults, I'm calling it right now!" Ike states.
"Yo bud I wouldn't play with your food if I were you!" Roy states while nudging M Corrin who was poking his 'steak' with his fork repeatedly. "If Peach catches you she'll give you a good wallop to your head," he adds while slowly rubbing the back of his head.
"What even is this?" M Corrin asks while looking at the slop of food.
"Well, it's basically a bunch of food particles trying to imitate being a bunch of other food particles." Roy says while poking at his own 'steak' with a fork.
"Basically…" Ike speaks up while picking up a 'chicken' leg, "this is the stuff food eats!" He states while lifting up the drumstick and watching it wobble.
"It was a completely unanimous agreement made by level headed individuals with no bias." Marth says casually while receiving various glares.
"Yeah thanks for that by the way!" Link grumbles before shoving a cube of food into his mouth.
"You were there too, you little tyke!" Shulk berates the Hylian while everyone else now turns to glare at the green clad hero.
"I don't know what kind of animal this is but I prefer my meat rare." M Corrin mumbles while holding up the food in front of him.
"Take it up with the cook," Roy says while jabbing his fork back towards Peach. Poor M Corrin being the clueless fresh face newcomer he is actually stood from his seat and began heading towards the ladies table. That is until Ike grabbed him by the collar and sat him back down in his seat.
"Have you lost your mind!?" He exclaimed while shaking the newcomer by the shoulder.
"Why?" M Corrin asked while looking back at them puzzled.
"You never, and I mean never tell that woman her cooking is off!" Roy says very sternly while wiggling his 'steak' in front of him.
"Her whole personality is basically her cooking, she's a very passionate cook and a baker and besides getting kidnapped every other week that's her whole schtick. She's so passionate about it that she doesn't handle any criticism rationally." Ike explained while everyone else nodded their heads along furiously.
"Sounds a bit tyrannical to be honest…" M Corrin remarked.
"Well take it up with HR," Roy remarked while once again jabbing his fork towards the pink princess. M Corrin once again stood from his seat again and began walking towards her. That is until Shulk grabbed him by the collar and sat him back down again.
"Do you have a death wish!?" The Monado wielder exclaimed before smacking the newcomer across the face before he could reply. "You can't launch a complaint against the very person in charge of handling complaints and conflicts." He states very sternly before sitting back down and shaking his head.
"But that's tyranny!" M Corrin remarks, "who gave that power hungry lunatic so much power?" He says in disbelief.
"The big kahuna himself, plus she is a monarch back in her home world so she had that going for her. So she had experience in leadership and also apparently knows how to rule with an iron fist despite appearances." Robin explained while they all nodded to each other.
"She's a fair ruler at home sure, but unfortunately being here made her a little power hungry." Shulk adds.
"Well tyrants usually remain so until they are challenged and eventually overthrown." M Corrin states while they all scoffed at him.
"You really think we haven't tried?" Link says before he looks around and leans in to whisper, "the last guy who tried was a super soldier, and he once thought like you do and now look, you don't see him around these parts anymore do you?" He says while the others slowly nodded their heads solemnly.
"Poor snake, you shall be missed" Ike adds while running a hand across his band. "My bandana brother," he whispered.
"Surely there must be others who can challenge her power?" M Corrin suggested.
"Well, there is… However there are a few complications with that." Roy says, "Zelda for one can usurp her however this tournament her change in roles in their whole upper structure has her working closely with Master Hand. Meaning she's not really out and about interacting with us commoners." He explained while motioning towards the princess.
"There's also Samus over there," Shulk says while motioning towards the bounty hunter. "While she may be way more frightening and intimidating than Peach, she fortunately is always locked in a dark room working either on or with some sort of technology so she too isn't really out and about." He explained.
"There's also Mario, and beside him always being out of the mansion in important meetings because he's basically the face of all this. They're sort of a thing and that kind of gives her power over him so he's out of the question." Pit says while pointing towards the plumber way in the back.
"Then there's this let down here who despite being in their exclusive club doesn't make use of his opportunities!" Ike says while roughly patting Link on the shoulder.
"It's kind of hard to get anything through when I keep getting undermined!" Link protested, "you don't even know how many times I tried pushing for laser tag nights!"
"Excuses, excuses" Roy waved him off.
"Then there's? You!" Link points at the blue prince.
"To be fair, anything I do will be very closely monitored by my untrusting partner. Trying to get anything started through me is a sure guarantee to get a plan to fail." Marth says in defense.
"Yeah… Can't argue with that…" Roy mumbled.
"So there's nothing we can do about this?" M Corrin asked while holding up his piece of stake again.
"Take it up with the suggestions and improvements manager," Roy replies while jabbing his fork towards the pink princess, once again M Corrin stood from his seat but didn't get far as Link pulled his fork on him.
"Have you learned nothing!?" Link exclaimed.
Meanwhile at the ladies table…
"What's wrong dear you hardly touched your food?" Peach asked the newcomer, who was unsurely poking at her food.
"I just… What is it?" F Corrin asked while holding it up and watching it wobble.
"It's good for you is what it is," Peach quickly remarked.
"It's true, we've seen a significant improvement in the productivity of smashers when their diets were altered." Snow agreed with the princess.
"Hmm, I don't know…" Rosalina spoke softly.
"Why what's up?" Peach asked the fellow princess while cocking his head to the side.
"Well for one, Mario seems to have put on a few" She replies,
"Well that doesn't count because he's always traveling," Peach waved her off.
"Traveling? You make it sound like he's running across the galaxy again. He simply goes into town and then comes back the same day after a short meeting." Raven adds.
"Well he always grabs a quick bite while out," Peach insisted.
"You pack his lunch…" Zelda states nonchalantly.
"Well I… He… I…" Peach began to stammer.
"Now that you mention it, some of the guys usually smell of meat in the morning oddly enough." Snow remarked while they all looked at each other briefly.
"They're probably dreaming too much about it?" Peach waved her off again, "they're fine, they're all completely fine. There's no way they'd all suddenly start cheating on their diets! I have the perfect system in place." She claimed confidentiality.
"Speaking of weird events, these past few nights I've actually had the best sleep in a while. Like completely no tossing and turning as is common on most nights, even on a good night I dont get sleep this good!" Lucina chimes in cheerfully.
"Huh… Now that you mention it I've actually been having very restful nights myself." Raven says while she and the bluenette look at one another and shrug.
"Something funny is going on around here… I don't know what it is but something feels off." Zelda interjects.
"Well at least be glad you aren't over there in that whole mess!" Palutena says while pointing towards the back of the cafeteria, mainly the villains table.
They were all sitting in awkward silence looking at one certain individual, who had her feet kicked up totally relaxed. Of course said villains were puzzled as to why there was an unexpected guest.
*later*
"What's happening again?" Lucina asked, puzzled as Dark Pit slapped a large '2' on her back.
"Proving to everyone that I can train my partner the best!" He says while patting her on the back in encouragement. She looks behind him and sees the other big bads all giving pep talks to their partners egging them on.
"That still doesn't explain why you're trying to parade me like some kind of show pony…" She says with a perplexed expression across her face.
"Listen, we and by we I mean you, you win this and let's just say those multifunctional transformation mechanical furniture will no longer be a dream!" He explained while gripping the sides of her face, "listen you may not be the most unique being out there, but I know for sure you have the biggest spark out of all those buffoons!" He says, encouraging her further. She looks back to see the others and she was definitely the only human there, well there was one other.
"I'm not sure how far I'd get to be honest…" She remarked while placing her hands on her hips.
"You'll be fine!" He states before shoving a fistful of pills into her mouth, "especially now!" He says with a massive grin. She spat them all back out and gave him a look as if he was completely insane.
"I might agree to this for the furniture, but I will not cheat to get ahead!" She scolds him. He rolled his eyes and motioned behind them.
"Do you really think any of them are playing fair?" He says while she peeks behind his shoulder. Bowser was sneaking his partner Lucario a mega stone, Bowser jr was giving Jill rocket powered roller skates, Wario handing a handful of color pallets to Pac-Man, King Dedede was giving his Mii partner (since Dark Link was decommissioned) a warp star. Oddly enough though Mewtwo and his partner Meta Knight were eerily quiet.
"That may be so, but if I am to partake in this I'll do it without cheap tricks and with my dignity intact!" She says while giving him a look and crossing her arms.
"Right, the one time when it's crucial you don't be a square, you decide to be the biggest square to ever square…" He says before walking off while shaking his head.
"I'm not a square!" She hissed at him before turning from him in a huff.
"So… You were roped into this whole mess too huh…" She hears a voice from behind say. She turns to see Robin standing there awkwardly in his own tracksuit.
"Pretty much, I don't even remember why I agreed to this if I'm being honest." She replies while dropping her shoulders.
"Maybe enticing false promises?" Robin says with a slight shrug.
"Yeah… something like that," she admits. They then hear a whistle and a referee, or rather Captain Falcon in a referee shirt calling everyone over.
"I want a clean race out there, no funny business!" He says sternly, and you knew he was serious when he was yelling obnoxiously and or using his name in the beginning of a sentence. "No attacking the competition, I mean it!" He adds before blowing his whistle again and everyone lined up on the track.
"Hey guys! You're partaking too?" F Corrin appears between them and Lucina and Robin look at one another.
"Why are you here? I thought this was a thing the villains put together?" Lucina asked.
"Oh, funny story is that my partner organized all this, she told me it was a fun activity with prizes!" She said rather cheerfully while pointing off towards the bleachers.
"Prizes?" Robin said, "what prizes exactly?" He asked.
"She said something about special food and other personal items or such as massive rewards," F Corrin replies, Lucina quickly whips around and sees her partner huddled with the others all throwing money into a large pile while arguing with each other.
"You lying sack of…" She says under her breath.
Meanwhile…
"Are you sure it was wise putting all bets in?" Pit asked his counterpart. They both sat near the back of the bleachers as the runners prepared to take off. Bayonetta was taunting the villains at lunch about how out of synch they are with their partners which allowed her to easily steam roll through them during the battles earlier in the day. To which they countered she was out of sync herself with her own partner. Which led to a whole debacle about whose partner was better trained, which led to them organizing a race of sorts and roping their partners into it. With all kinds of interesting bets enticing everyone into it completely.
"Runners, on your marks!" Captain Falcon called out.
"Don't worry, I gave her a protein shake beforehand for energy which should be kicking in right about now." Pittoo remarks with a large grin on his face.
"Oh… About that…" Pit says with a sheepish smile. Pittoo turns to him with a super serious look on his face. In the background someone burst through a third floor window and landed in the bushes.
"Gets set… GO!"
*a few minutes ago*
"And remember the most important thing to remember is to pace yourself, I can't stress that enough." Snow says trying to encourage the bluenette.
"Yo, you're in that exclusive special race that's being rumored around?" Link asked when he spotted the bluenette wearing a tracksuit. The rest of the swordsman walked in afterwards murmuring to themselves.
"Unfortunately…" Lucina replies with no enthusiasm at all.
"So I heard it's special and something awesome is gonna happen at the end!" Roy chimes in while throwing his arm around Link.
"I don't know, looking between the lines it seems there is a hidden agenda behind all this." Shulk says while he looked in thought for a moment
"OOOH smoothie!" Link says taking the drink off the counter and begins chugging it, although no one really paid him any mind.
"This is all absurd" Marth says while crossing his arms, "I don't know what the end goal is here but I wouldn't be surprised if it's something nefarious, you really want to be there when it hits the fan?" He says in a concerning tone.
"And as always you're overreacting," Lucina rebuffed him while taking the cup off the counter which was completely empty now. She stared at the empty cup for a moment before he looked up and saw Link wiping his mouth patting his stomach. "Dammit Link! Again?" She growled while placing the cup down with a frustrated growl.
"Again?" Ike asked a little too curiously, then Lucina realized her mistake, in which she was in a similar altercation in the past which ended very horribly for the green clad hero. Despite all the arrows pointing at her for the blame it was sorta swept under the rug since 'pranks' like those were all too common, and no one wanted to deal with the paperwork and also to teach Link a lesson.
"Yeah…" Lucina stammered, "He drank my super blaster once" she brought up the time he took off with a smoothie she brought back from a carnival she went to as a quick save.
"Hey I see a smoothie, I can't help myself, it's like the greatest thing to ever be made!" Link protested. He had a habit of drinking any and all smoothies he came across, ever since he was introduced to them he'd be hopelessly addicted to it. Maybe it had to do with the fact that he already loved drinking milk, and learning that you can blend it with all kinds of interesting ingredients completely blew his mind. If he sees a smoothie he starts getting twitchy unless he gets a taste of it.
"Blue! What are you doing? Stop messing around and get out here you're missing everything!" Dark Pit pokes his head in before leaving out the door again.
"Well let's get this over with…" Lucina breathes out and follows after the Dark Angel.
Link then shrugs and walks off while watching a video on his phone about making a makeshift grill with a toaster. Suddenly he gets a strong jolt surge through him making him launch his phone. "Woah… Why do I suddenly feel like I can jump over a mountain!" He said to himself surprised while looking down at his hands. His eye started to twitch uncontrollably before he got down on all fours and began sprinting down the hall while howling.
"Aaaaand that's enough sugar for today!" Ness says to himself and tosses his candy bar away and walks away.
*two minutes later…*
"LINK!" Zelda shouts angrily, "get down from there or so help me din!" She huffs while he swung wildly across the chandelier in the lobby.
"Woohoo!" Link shouts as he puts more force into making the chandelier swing faster. "You're gonna have to catch me first!" He says to her while she growled loudly.
"Link! Im not gonna ask again!" She stomps her foot down hard, "do i need to count? Do you want me to start counting?" She warns but he ignores her and keeps swinging wildly. "3!" She begjns while holding up her hand with three fingers up, "2!" She continues and put a finger down, "1!" She holds up her last finger, "LINK!" She shouts while making sure to show him only one finger remained.
"Parkour!" He shouts and claw shots away, however that made the chandelier snap and fall. She quickly moves back as it came crashing down kicking up a large cloud of dust. "Parkour!" He shouts again and claw shots himself upstairs and ran into the hall.
"Link you get back here and clean this up!" She shouts at him while quickly running up the stairs after him. He was laughing to himself uncontrollably and despite running on all fours he was moving fast. Even for like Link's standard he was moving way too unnaturally fast which made her start getting suspicious. "Link, what did you take now? I told you to stop mixing energy drinks!" She calls out to him with an irritated tone. He laughs to himself again and picks up speed before he jumped up and swung on a statue and propelled himself unto the next floor.
"You're gonna have to do better than that slowpoke!" He calls out to her followed by uncontrollable giggling. She growls again and takes out a metallic bracelet with glowing gemstones in a shape of a left glove embedded into it, and slapped it on her wrist. Suddenly her hand glows and magical sparks dance on her fingertips before she waved her arms and vanished.
Link, who was jumping side to side and leaning over the railing waiting to see the hylian princess come storming up the stairs. Gets caught completely by surprise when she materialize behind him and grabbed him by the collar. "You're not talking your way out of this!" She says while shaking him, he giggled to himself again and slipped out of his shirt and takes off down the hall. She looks at his empty shirt for a solid two minutes before looking up and seeing a shirtless Link sprinting down the hall with his hands in the air. She groans and tosses his shirt before sprinting after him which only egged him on more and he picks up speed. He could tell by that look on her face that was definitely going to tackle him to the ground and then bind him. She really started picking up speed and he figured it had to do with that fancy new bracelet she had. A rush of excitement washes over him which makes his adrenaline go through the roof and he himself started picking up speed. Eventually his surroundings started to blur and he lost track of where he was. "LINK STOP!" Zelda shouts while skidding to an immediate halt.
He didn't heed her warning though and kept going, straight out of the window at the end of the hall. "I can fly!" He shouts despite the fact that he was falling down at tremendous speeds. He lands in the pushed below with a loud and audible thud. He laid there groaning to himself as he felt his newfound power being drained from him. Which weirdly enough made it sound like Link was a deflating a balloon. "So…" Zelda says while appearing next to him and knelt to his level, "what do you have to say for yourself?" She asked with a stern look on her face. He drops his head back down and groaned to himself again.
"Runners, On your Marks, Get set… GO!" Captain Falcon shouts before a large buzzer sounds off. Immediately the sounds of an engine revving sound off and Jill the villager blast forward at tremendous speeds. Bowser jr was laughing to himself like a maniac while holding a little remote with a large red button on it. Jill may have been moving at seeds that would put Sonic to shame but there was one major flaw with their plan… Jill couldn't steer… So the poor girl launched into the forest completely going through several trees and completely knocking them away before slamming into a large boulder and embedding herself deep into it. The crowd reeled back as the rocket powered skates began to sputter and eventually die out. Bowser jr lowers his head and slowly scoots away before spriting away from the crowd, he was sure that Jill was going to come after him with that axe of hers at night.
Lucario suddenly mega evolved and than he too takes off at tremendous speeds. Pac-Man takes out a handful of pallets and turns into a large sphere and waka waka'd his way through the crowd at rapid speeds. The random Mii wearing Link's attire takes out a warp star and took off at rapid seeds as well. Lucina sighed and despite knowing she was horribly outmatched began sprinting down the track after the others. She hears a loud cheer and turns to see Robin with a crazed look in his eyes zoom past her at incredible speeds, which was puzzling since she knew he wasn't exactly known for being fast. One thing was for sure, she was going to need a miracle to make it through this obviously rigged competition, and an even bigger miracle to win it…
Well here we are, another belated chapter, ironically if I didn't procrastinate so much this story would've been done this year. Which was my original intent lol, but nobody wants that do they? Are we really ready to say goodbye?
Anyway place your bets now, if you dare but be aware everything is rigged, heh. Until next time, Toodles!
Next Chapter: The Smasher Games…