Smash Brothers Odyssey Book 5: Ultimate

by SmashBrosOdyssey

The fifth tournament is underway! Behind the scenes however, Conker the Squirrel has acquired the missing Smash Core and is assembling an inter-dimensional army of villains in a decade-overdue power play to dominate the universe. What havoc will the villains reek? How will Mario, who is now tasked with leading the Smashers, respond?

32. The First Weekend: Part 1

The First Weekend: Part 1

Bzzt bzzt bzzt

Quinn rolled over in bed, grabbing his communicator from off the nightstand. The text that had caused the device to activate was from Mario, and it bore one sentence

Everyone is here, all-hands meeting, 15 minutes,

Quinn mulled the word "everyone" around in his head a few times. He had noticed there were increasingly more new faces in the last few days, especially at the firepit. Grabbing his sunglasses and tucking them into the collar of his sleep shirt for safekeeping and heading to the bathroom for a quick brush of his teeth, he recalled the outing at the firepit. It had turned into something of a musical exhibition, with the bear and the bird first pulling out a banjo and then a kazoo. Toon Link had joined in, somehow using a conducting wand to make music from nowhere, and Zelda had accompanied him on the harp, which led to Young Link pulling out his ocarina, Donkey Kong bringing his bongos, and Diddy Kong of all people laying down the lyrics in a very wholesome freestyle jamboree, while the others clapped along. He hadn't had that much fun in a long time and hoped it was a sign of things to come.

Brushing his teeth quickly, and spitting out the water, he opened the door to see Altair leaving, "Hey," called the Wuhu Island resident, "You seen Sans?"

Altair poked his head back into the room to say, "Probably attending to his administrator duties for once," before truly leaving the room, letting the doors close behind him.

As Quinn walked down the hallway, he saw some of the other Smashers murmuring with excitement.

"What do you think this announcement could be about?" asked Torri, who was walking with her roommate Green.

"It's physics week Torri!"

"Augh…what's that? Physics was always my worst subject in school."

Captain Falcon, who was behind them, interjected, "Don't fret young lady, the name is pretty misleading. Think of it more of an opportunity for training on how to be a Smasher."

"Woomy! That I can do!" cheered Torri, "But…why's it called Physics Week?" she asked, he forehead wrinkling in confusion

"Because the physics is different every tournament. Gravity mostly, so we're gonna spend a week getting acclimated ." Quinn interjected, on autopilot.

In response Torri, just looked at him as if he'd spawned a second head while Green snickered at the situation Quinn felt himself shrinking from embarrassment.

"Sorry, I literally went to school to be a Smasher, and uh…" bashfully said the Mii Fighter.

A boisterous laugh came from Falcon as they got in the line to descend the grand staircase, " There's no problem showing what you know young man!" said the F-Zero racer,

"Thanks, I guess," mumbled Quinn as they advanced ever further in line.

"Seriously, don't overthink this stuff. You're a student, so reciting knowledge is kind of your thing right now. But, I think the more experience you get as a fighter, the more you'll learn to think on your feet."

"You're probably right. I just hope I get there fast enough to win some matches."

The line was advancing, the doors were in sight.

Again, Falcon laughed saluting the young Mii, "We're all working on ourselves at our own pace. There's no rush!"

"By the way, we uh…didn't mean to make you feel bad or anything," Torri mumbled.

"Yeah no," added Green, "I just thought Torri being confused was funny at the moment,"

"I'll remember that when I recolor your Pokemon!" snapped Torri jokingly.

"It's not you guys," interjected Quinn," It's just a hang-up I have to work on," he said, nodding understandingly at Green and Torri.

Now, it was time for Green, Torri, and Quinn to push through the doors. Quinn felt his breath catch in his throat as he observed the sight before him beyond the doors. The most imaginative surrealist painter couldn't produce an image so strikingly bizarre. Humanoids, animals, humanoid animals, and a few Quinn would classify as somewhere in between all stood at in the main hall of the Smash Mansion, spilling out into it once they descended the staircase.

Suddenly, Quinn was snapped out of his bewilderment by a shove to his back. Quinn felt his center of gravity being off shifted, with the possibility of falling down a flight of stairs feeling very real, and very frightening. Luckily, Quinn was able to catch his balance.

"MOVE JERK!" screamed Wario,

Quinn rolled his eyes as he began to descend. As he headed down, it became apparent to him that he had been so wrapped up in all the excitement that he'd failed to notice the ever-present cloud of rot behind him that was Wario.

"Awww, he didn't fall," whined the cloud of rot.

"Ha! You couldn't do it! You owe me 20 coins!" shouted the voice of Porky somewhere behind him.

As Wario grumbled in defeat, Quinn took his place near the front of the ensemble, next to Ridley and Dark Samus.

What is it with me and villains today? Quinn wondered internally.

Ridley growled, his metal teeth angrily clashing with each other as he did, "What could possibly be so important? In the time it takes this circus to get everyone together, I could've traveled megaparsecs," The Cunning God of Death whined, the metallic parts of his mouth clanking as it moved.

Dark Samus only growled in what Quinn thought was agreement.

The final group of Smashers descended the staircase, Chrom (who was dressed in his pajamas, frantically yelling something about getting up late), King K. Rool and his guards (who wordlessly shoved past Quinn and the others behind him), and Pichu (who eagerly scurried up Quinn, settling upon his head, much to Quinn's enjoyment.) Then, Shulk, Sans, Marth, Otis, Mikey, ROB, Marth, Peach, and then Mario filed out one by one, with Mario standing in the middle of the group at the top of the staircase, with the other administrative team members stood at his sides. Mario tapped what appeared to be a wireless mic, and the room fell silent.

"What can I say? Smashers, everyone is here!"

The room cheered simultaneously. Even Ridley had a grin on his face at that.

"So, now that we're all settled, I'm going to run down the preliminary schedule. The next 48 hours are free time. You can do whatever you wish to do on the Mansion property. Then, we have Physics Week, which is an opportunity for our new members to train on the stages that we'll be using in the tournament, so they can get an idea for how fighting in a Smash arena feels. Veterans, this is a good opportunity to either set up informal training sessions with our newcomers or, if you feel like you want to hold a more formal seminar, please let someone in Administration know by the end of the weekend. I've reached out to a few of you already about a seminar, so just await further instructions on those. Both informal and formal are limited to eight Smashers per stage, and signup sheets go out at dinnertime at the end of the weekend. Also, I should say that Smash City is off-limits until Physics Week because that's when we're moving in the vendors, as well as finalizing housing accommodations. That said, Miss Trainer is holding a cardio seminar at Ultimate Stadium, should that pique your interest."

"Miss Trainer?" whispered Quinn, hoping someone would hear him.

"He means Wii Fit Trainer you goon," Ridley growled.

Quinn felt his whole body shiver as Ridley stared him down. Satisfied with his work, Ridley grinned, his headlight yellow eyes narrowing coyly before he turned back to face the speakers.

"What happens after Physics Week?" shouted Vector to the admin team,

Mario grinned, "Everyone moves in, then we have the opening ceremony in the evening, and then the all-hands dinner, then the tournament is the next day."

A happy murmur echoed through the crowd, then suddenly Sans spoke up, "So, as some of you know, some of us got into some trouble last night."

"Yes," sneered Akechi from the back of the room, "Someone's girlfriend and surrogate sister got us in trouble,"
Joker, who was beside Akechi, simply smirked at him. Ann, who was on Joker's other side, peaked around her boyfriend to flip off their rival... Akechi simply rolled his eyes, causing snickers from a few Smashers nearby.

"So," continued Sans, "For those of us, and we know who we are, that partied too hard last night, Cruel Brawl is on tomorrow until we each eliminate one guy. Today though, we're grounded! The question is, how will you kill the time? Me? I'm going to practice some Dvorak on trombone, ya know, to get amped."

And there goes the bedroom Quinn whined internally.

"Who of us is grounded?" asked Dante with a crap-eating grin on his face.

At this, Peach's face puffed up, likely to shout at the Son of Sparda, but all Mario had to do dissuade that was hold up a hand.

"You know you and me stuck it to the man." Sans began, pointing finger guns at a smiling Dante, " Besides us, Yoshi, Chun-Li, the Phantom Thieves, Ken, and Saki are all grounded."

"To add to what Sans said," spoke Peach with angry authority, "The sleeping areas are not for loud parties. If you must have such a fracas, please use any other room in this mansion." Peach explained, intimidating authority spilling out of her every word.

"I just want to emphasize this, any other room?" asked Wario, a Cheshire Cat-like smile spreading on his face.

"Ugh, she doesn't mean the bathroom, you idiot." Ness groaned from further back in the crowd.

"EY! SAY THAT TO MY FACE SHRIMP!" bellowed Wario, raising his fists as if to box.

"Calm down Wario, he just said…" Lucas tried to interject as Cuphead stood between the two, ready to fight.

At this, Wario's face went as red as a tomato almost immediately "NO! YOU INTERRUPTED MY BRILLIANT JOKE! I'LL A CRUSH-A YOU, I'LL-A CRUSH-A COFFEE BOY! I'LL-A CRUSH-" ranted the fat man, his face now an eggplant purple.

"Wario, that's enough," Mario said, his cold, authoritative tone silencing the room, " Unless you want to get in on the Cruel Brawl session this weekend," he growled

"No…" Wario whispered, slumping back into the crowd to the giggles of a few, likely the same who had giggled at Akechi earlier.

"That's what we thought. Now be a well-behaved toddler instead of a naughty one for the rest of the meeting, won't you?"Peach mockingly cooed with a playful wink.

The snickers picked up in volume. To quell this, Mario cleared his throat, "With that said, Marth?" he prompted, nodding over to the Vice President

"Yes," Marth began, "We have decided to unveil the tournament bracket on Opening Day, to give everyone an even chance. Know this, however, that it is being designed to determine who was the best among fighting styles, and among each era of Smash, in addition to finding the champion among us all. Do you have anything to add Mario?"

" I haven't mentioned the prize money!" Mario said with a playful snap of his fingers, " The veterans already know this, but for our new people I'm going to explain the prize money scheme. So, as everything in Smash City is perpetually automated, there is-a no operating budget, so all the proceeds for-a stadium tickets and transportation can be distributed back to the fighters. And, considering the multi-dimensional tournament we have, coupled with the size of our stadium, our attendance is in the hundreds of billions."

"What?" Travis Touchdown protested, "There's no way!"

"Oh, but there is son," Captain Falcon piped in, "One of the major cities of my world has a population of 2 billion, and considering we can run shuttles to the Smash Dimension for dirt cheap, plus the fact that this place exists outside of time, means we get an enormous attendance from all of our worlds, plus some worlds Master Hand wanted to an extend an arm to."

"God Falcon, was that a pun?" Bayonetta groaned,

"You know it 'Netta!" Falcon shouted with a playful salute.

"Furthermore," Samus interjected, side eying Captain Falcon, "Some people have their own airships, so they don't even use the accommodations, whether that be large parties or companies, or rich asshats who don't want to interact with the commoners.'

"Don't curse Samus!" playfully whined Bayonetta, throwing an arm over her shoulder, "Or else we'll have to Cruel Smash with the rest of the idiots."

Samus grinned, "Yeah, sorry," she said, throwing a thumbs up at the admin team.

"Thanks, guys, couldn't have said it better myself," Mario continued, " So, first-round losers get a million Smash coins, second-round losers get two million, round three losers get four, round four gets eight, round five gets 16 million, semi-final losers get 32, runner up gets 64 million, and the champion gets the remainder of the pot, which can still amount to several billion if our attendance calculation is correct."

The murmurs of excitement that came next were from the newcomers, most of whom had never seen that kind of money before.

"Now," Mario said, bringing attentive silence to the room once again, "Do we have any questions?"

"Yes," piped up a tiny voice from within the crowd, The Villager, "Will vendors get paid the way as they were last time?"

"Oh! That's a great question," Marth said, "Yes. All of you have vendors from your world coming, and a lot of them were interested in how the conversion works, as I'm-a sure some of you are as well. All currencies of the invited worlds and dimensions are valid, and vendors will be walked through the conversion rate at the tournament's end, when they "cash out," as the terminology goes."

More murmurs, the only unique sound was Isabelle, who was standing next to Villager furiously dictating into a notebook.

"Ah, but you mentioned Smash Coins? How does that differ from the currency the vendors will be dealing with?" asked Chun-Li.

"Each coin is worth 1 million of any currency around the multi-verse." piped in Mikey.

"WHAT THE F-" screamed Kyoko, only for Misako to quickly put a hand over her mouth.

"Man, I'll never hurt for anime again!" barked Travis loudly

"Hey Dante, you might actually be able to pay off your debts," chided Vergil.

"Did you really have to bring that out in front of everybody?" moaned Dante,

"Now," Mario once again interrupted, his voice suddenly stern, "I hope you realize how amazing an opportunity this is. All we ask to keep things civil is that you follow our rules."

"Our very limited rules, for that matter," added in Peach.

"Yes. With that said, everyone who isn't under punishment is dismissed. Those of you who are, go to your rooms and await instructions for tomorrow Oh, and Master Chief, I need to speak to you in the Core Machine Room."

Master Chief nudged his way through the crowd as Mario descended the stairs. The Spartan followed the hero of the Mushroom Kingdom to the catacombs.

As Altair ambled away with the Belmonts, caught up in a spirited conversation about the wonder of flying machines sustaining human life independently. Quinn followed the crowd who was headed outside Pichu still eagerly perched upon his head. From behind him, he heard Miss Trainer, shout, "Anyone who wants to get some cardio in at the stadium come with me,"

That doesn't sound like a terrible idea,

With that, Quinn, Pichu, and a few others began the long trek to Smash Stadium.

Core Machine Room

Mario and Master Chief wordlessly walked through the door of the Core Machine room. On one of the counters, two Polygon Team members were using miniature torching tools to tinker with something that looked like a small stadium floodlight.

"How's it-a going boys?" Mario asked,

"We are attempting to implement Shulk's design as you know," began one Polygon, " But the propulsion system is proving to be a problem. The amount of normal propulsion requires versus the size of the thing is proving to be difficult."

Mario nodded, "Shulk was sayin' that. You," he said, pointing to the Polygon that had not yet spoken, "Go get the toolbox with my name on it."

Without a word, the Polygon stood up to rummage through the low cabinets that resided below each counter space.

Master Chief crossed his arms, grunting with fascination, "Are you all craftsmen?"

Mario chuckled, "No, we just keep tools from each of our world available for DIY projects like this one."

"Which brings something to mind, what does this have to do with us?"

A smirk from The Boss, "In due time Chief."

As if on cue, the polygon emerged with a toolbox with a mushroom with eyes engraved its lid, as well as the name of its owner.

Mario opened it. What Chief saw caught him by surprise, flowers, mushrooms, stars, all with eyes, all given their proper storage space within the foam innards.

"Looks like it does," Master Chief said.

Mario raised an eyebrow, "Beg-a pardon?"

"Cortana wanted to know if your world operated on fairy tale logic," explained the Spartan.

Mario smirked, "Trust me, took me a while to get used to it myself, but it becomes second nature over time. Like these!"

Out of the toolbox, Mario pulled out a wing-shaped item, with the letter 'P' emblazed upon it in red. Pressing the wing onto the device, the item disappeared, the device growing wings.

"I agree with you Cortana, they can't be serious."

Mario shrugged, "I don't-a question it, I just do it."

Chief simply nodded, "Sound advice, but you haven't told us what this has to do with us."

Mario held out his hand, "Give Cortana to me."

"No," growled Chief.

"I understand your reluctance, but you've encountered no resistance so far. Please, just-a trust me."

There was a pause, "Alright, for you. What is this meant to do?" Chief asked.

"Quite simply Cortana, it's meant to give you freedom of movement, as you had aboard The Autumn, only better."

"Calm down," Chief snapped, seemingly speaking to Cortana, "That's what she wanted to know, and she is quite pleased."

Mario smiled, "As I can imagine. Hand her over."

Chief pressed a button on the side of his helmet The back protruded outward, and Chief pulled the chip containing Cortana out of the helmet completely, handing it to Mario. Mario stuck the chip in the back of the winged light, the light flaring to life and Cortana appearing before them, "I'm a real girl!" Cortana cheered.

Master Chief only grunted disapprovingly,

"What? I've always wanted to say that!" whined the AI.

"Cortana, I've been told that this can be controlled similarly to how you would navigate a ship you're on board," Mario explained

"So with thought then huh? Alright, let's try it."

The winged light fluttered up, following behind Cortana as she moved,

"Chief, Mario, this is amazing! Is this how humans walk around?"

"Yes. I'm glad-a you enjoyed it. You two are dismissed," Mario said, leaving through the door from which they came.

"I'm going to explore the property a bit Chief. You're welcome to come with if you want."

Chief simply nodded, Spartan and AI walking together to get back up to the main level.

Lobby

Corrin couldn't help but smile as she saw the lobby desolate a few minutes after the meeting had adjourned. She had expected the lobby to be packed but deduced the weather being nice is what caused the opposite. She headed down the stairs, carrying in one hand a plastic bottle of sweet tea, and an encyclopedia under the opposite arm.

After descending the staircase, she gracefully sat in one of the comfy-looking chairs in the lobby, spreading the encyclopedia onto her lap, and examining the plastic bottle. Normally, she made tea for herself along with Peach and some of the other royals, but with the rushed affairs this morning, no one had had the time to make a pot.

Corrin unscrewed the cap from the bottle, taking a dainty sip, holding the liquid in her mouth, letting its flavors breathe. Corrin grimaced.

Too sweet she thought.

The princess of two kingdoms swallowed. It wasn't like she would ever waste food, she wouldn't make drinking such sweets a habit.

With that experiment over, she turned her attention to the encyclopedia. Books had been restocked in the mansion since she last visited the library in the days of the Duel tournament, which meant new encyclopedias to thumb through. Traditionally, the library was seldom used, the exception of which being when the more thorough of the Smashers wanted to research their opponent. The new books in the library this time appeared to be geared towards the lands of the newcomers. Reading encyclopedias had gained Corrin a few odd looks both here and at home, but it was something of a ritual at this point. She would typically thumb through an encyclopedia, make note of whatever subjects she found interesting, and read more detailed things from there. The reading she had on her lap this time had to do with the world Terry came from, specifically, The United States. She knew Mac was from a different version of it, and Ryu had traveled to his version regularly, but it hadn't appealed to her.

That was until she met Terry Bogard.

She couldn't think of a time before him in which she had met someone and been unable to stop thinking about them. Loud, yet soft-spoken when appropriate. Flamboyant, yet humble. Relaxed, yet disciplined. Brave, curious, adventurous, gorgeous like a man out of a fairy tale.

If only she could work up the nerve to have a conversation of substance with him.

Sure, they'd talked daily ever since he arrived via the text chatting function on their communicators, buy their talks never extended beyond pleasantries, and gossip about the goings-on. It reminded her of the glum days in the Northern Fortress, where any human interaction she had had from family was on a strictly need-to-know basis. So hardwired into her brain was way of life that, unless spoken to, she rarely ever spoke.

If I can't speak to him, I might as well learn about the culture that made him Corrin had reasoned in the library.

And so there she was, about to open her written gateway into a crush's world.

"Hey! Dragon lady!" a familiar voice shouted from the door leading to the cafeteria.

The hairs on the back of Corrin's neck stood up. Coming towards her was The Hungry Wolf himself, Terry Bogard, "Whatcha reading?" he asked as he neared her.

It dawned on Corrin then. Here she was, reading about a crush's home country, at no point did it occur to her that her crush had a chance of seeing her do it.

Legendary Dragons above, truly I am nothing more than an adolescent with a crush.

"O-oh, a book on your United States," Corrin stuttered.

Terry grinned at her, "And why's that?"

Corrin's cheeks felt hotter than the sun, Terry only grinned wider.

Dastard's got me dead to rights.

"I wanted to get to know your world better, as I was fascinated when I was there."

So why did you lie?

"Well, we were in Mexico, which is a different country."

Corrin only blushed harder.

"But…" jokingly pondered the King of Fighters champion, "If you wanna know more, we could always go out to dinner when the city opens up, see if they have an arcade."

"Yes!" Corrin said, her excited declaration sounding like the squeak of a mouse.

Terry grinned, "Glad you're looking forward to it. I am too. I can't wait to hear what you think about it US history."

"Y-yeah, me neither," Corrin stammered

Terry chuckled, Corrin's cheeks now so deeply blushed she theorized they could melt the coldest ice in Nohr.

"Keep readin' Dragon Lady," pointing at her with his thumb up, starting his way up the stairs.

When she was sure he wasn't looking towards her, she closed her eyes and breathed deeply. If she didn't stow her heart soon, it might explode! It was only after she heard the grand doors shut that she opened her eyes, took a few slow, even breaths, flipping to the first page of the United States section.

Wait, when I agreed to our date, was he…blushing too?

Corrin shook the thought out of her head and began to read.

Kitchen

It wasn't the first time they'd cooked together, but Meta-Knight still couldn't wrap his head around it.

He, King Dedede, Kirby, and Jigglypuff stood in the kitchen, making a feast for the rest of the Smashers tonight. Typically, the group wasn't required to eat together till Opening Day night, but Kirby could be rather insistent when he put his mind to something. This went double for food. Kirby had recruited the usual quartet, as he had done multiple times in the past. Even so, it never quite registered as the truth for Meta-Knight that this group could co-exist as a blended family. Three of them had engaged in battles for the future of their planet, together and on opposing sides. Jigglypuff had come into their lives a stranger from another dimension had fallen in and out of love with Kirby, in love with him, and through it, all counted them as the family they'd never had. And so, here they were, together, cooking like a family, each performing the task in the process that suited them best.

"More veggies coming your way for the stew handsome!" said Jigglypuff

That snapped Meta-Knight out of his trance. Chopping the veggies with a freshly cleaned Galaxia without a second thought. Just as Meta-Knight felt his concentration slip again, a piece of the background noise in this whole affair, Dedede tenderizing an enormous cut of beef with his hammer, stopped. There was silence for several seconds before the King of Dreamland spoke up,

"I've been thinking about something."

"There's a shocker," teased Jigglypuff.

Under his mask, Meta-Knight smirked. Telling off your boss via your girlfriend was a nice ace in the hole to have.

Dedede only grunted in response before continuing, "How do y'all think the bracket's gon' be split up"

This caught Meta-Knight off guard. Marth had said that they were going to determine the best of each class, so did that mean…?

"Is there a chance we're gonna have to fight each other?" Kirby asked, his voice wrought with concern.

"Highly unlikely. In a field of 100 fighters guarantees of advancing far are non-existent, " Meta-Knight said.

"What about the first round?" asked Kirby.

"Even more unlikely," grunted Meta-Knight.

Kirby smiled, squinting his eyes, agreeing with a bouncy "Mm-hmm!"

Jigglypuff spoke up next, " Aw c'mon Knighty-Knight, who's to say that luck won't be on our side this tournament. Heck, Kirby won the Brawl one!"

"I'm only saying…" Meta-Knight began, but Jigglypuff cut him off.

"You're avoiding the question!" barked Dedede.

Jigglypuff bit her lip, "I hate to say it but…he's right."

Meta-Knight blushed under his mask, supposing that was the universe paying him back for the fun he'd had at Dedede's expense earlier.

"I-I was just pondering how this changes the rules of engagement. I wouldn't want to do anything to upend my friendship with any of you."

Kirby chirped "You guys are my family, and no tournament's ever gonna change that."

"So with that said, gimmie all ya got if we meet!" demanded Dedede.

Jigglypuff smiled in agreement, "Yeah! What they said!"

"Expect no less then, any of you" Meta-Knight nodded.

Jigglypuff and Kirby both gave happy, affirmative grunts. Suddenly, Jigglypuff snapped to attention, "Enough jibber-jabber! We have a stew to cook. That means you handsome," she said, pointing a nub at Meta-Knight, "No slacking!"

"Yes milady," grunted Meta Knight, doing his best to hide a wide smile.

Cafeteria

Cloud Strife stared vacantly into his cup of black coffee, having a table to himself as the Smashers who hadn't gone back to bed after the meeting filtered in for breakfast. Ever since Sephiroth had joined the group, he hadn't been able to sleep, plagued by nightmares of Zack's death. But it was different than what piecing together his memories in the pool of Mako had yielded. In the nightmare, his friends had beaten Sephiroth right after leaving Midgar, and in doing so, it managed to undo some of the damage…including Zack's death.
Cloud grimaced. After the Geostigma Crisis, he'd spent a few months in Cosmo Canyon, getting psychological guidance from the elders of Red XIII's village, and living off the land. In this time of hard work and self-reflection, he'd come to realize that defeating Sephiroth was the best possible solution he could've offered for the planet woes, and those that had died, Zack, Aerith, his family, Tifa's family, had not done so in vain.

Now, here he was, unable to sleep, fueled almost exclusively by caffeine, back where he started.

"Cloud?" a gruff voice asked,

He hung a glance over his shoulder. It was Snake walking towards him, also carrying a cup of coffee.

"Yeah, that's me. You Snake?"

"That's me." Snake said, a grin on his face.

Cloud waited until Snake took the seat opposite him, extending his hand, allowing Snake to shake it.

"I've heard quite a bit about you," Cloud said.

Snake grunted. Luckily, years of extended communication with Cid had taught him what good and bad grunts had sounded like. That was a good one.

"I could say the same about you, genetically modified warrior clone, pumped full of a dangerous substance. Confront the guy you were cloned from, and the government that made it all possible, and won. My kind of guy."

Cloud raised an eyebrow, noting the mercenary's tone. This wasn't the tone of a superfan who approached him on the street. This was the nonchalant tone of a man who'd lived it.

"Same shit happen to you?" inquired Cloud.

"Frighteningly so,"

And so, as Cloud sipped his coffee, Snake told Cloud his weaving tale, starting with his father fifty years ago, getting to the adventures he himself had experienced e and finally wrapping up with...

"And so after the Subspace thing, I decided to have Master Hand put me on ice until they needed me again because if I went back home they'd try to recreate all that I had prevented."

Cloud went to say something, but could only mutter, "Wow,"

Snake chuckled, "I get that a lot."

Cloud chuckled back, "Hey, at least I could beat up someone working for Shinra. You had to climb through a heating furnace just to give a computer a virus."

"But your guy Sephiroth blew up your version of the Solar System right? You win some you lose some I suppose."

Cloud let out a grunt. He saw a flash of realization in Snake's eyes. He could read grunts too.

"Hey," Snake asked, concern in his voice, "How're you holding up with him…here?"

Cloud cast his gaze to his coffee, "He hangs out on the roof, like the gargoyle he is, most of the time, so that's not the issue. Issue is I've been having some restless nights."

Snake nodded sympathetically, "Nightmares?"

Cloud returned the nod, "Super vivid ones too. Of events that I remember…but differently."

Snake rubbed his chin in thought, "Could be more than that."

"More?"

"Yeah. Link…"

"Trading old war stories are we gentlemen?"

Both men's gaze snapped towards the source of the voice as Peach strode up to them, teacup gracefully in hand, one of her Toad attendants following behind her.

"Yes and no," Snake explained, "Cloud here's been having nightmares, similar to the ones Link had way back when and has been ever since Sephiroth showed up."

"Hmmm. That's not good at all, but I believe it to be solvable," said Peach.

"You do?" asked Cloud.

"Yes. Zelda talked quite a bit about it when we first met at the Melee tournament. Link was having similar problems because Ganondorf used time travel to run afoul in his past, so he was having recollections of memories that he himself had not experienced. This place being in-between universes, occasionally you catch whiffs of things that may have happened to an alternate version of yourself."

"Do you think that's what's happening?" Cloud asked,

Peach giggled, "Darling, I'm far from a scientist, but please do message my dear Mario, and he can set up a consultation."

Cloud smiled, nodding, "Thank you Peach."

Peach smiled, "It's no issue at all Mister Strife!" said the Princess of the Mushroom kingdom, her voice kind and chipper, " I'm always here if you need someone to listen."

Again, Cloud nodded, "Something tells me I'll be taking you up on that sooner rather than later. But right now, I think I need to get somewhere quiet so I can write this out properly."

"Want a cigarette? You sound like you could use one," chided Snake

Cloud shook his head with a grin on his face, "Nah, one of my old teammates smokes like a chimney, now I can't stand the smell."

"Fair enough."

Slamming the rest of his coffee Cloud bid his friends a silent wave goodbye and headed out of the kitchen.

"So Snake," Peach asked, taking a sip of tea, "How's your day going so far?"

Snake shrugged, pulling a flask out of one of his many pouches, pouring its contents into his coffee, and stirring it with a spoon, "Sonic and Isabelle are spending the day together."

Peach smirked, hiding it with a bigger sip of tea, squeaking out, "I'm sorry" as she put the tea down.

"I'm…uh…used to people laughing about gossip," the mercenary reassured the princess

Peach gracefully set down the now empty teacup, "Sorry my dear, years of etiquette classes and royal court form the most absurd habits "

"I can imagine," Snake nodded with a sip of coffee

Peach's eyes suddenly lit up, "Enough about me. We were saying that Isabelle and Sonic courting one another is driving you to drink."

"Snake frowned, "You make it sound much more romantic than it is. What it actually is Sonic attempting to flirt like some lovesick teenager."

Peach sighed lovingly at the prospect, "Snake, you must understand. Sonic is still very immature and…"

"That's putting it mildly."

"Snake! It's very rude to interrupt!"

"Now you're just starting to sound like Isabelle."

"Nevertheless," Peach spoke, more verbose now, as if she was about to give a royal decree, "Isabelle is an upstanding young lady, and, for all his faults. Sonic is an upstanding young man. If anything, trust Isabelle's judgment."

Snake rubbed his chin, now in thought, "You're right," he finally concluded

Peach giggled, "Good, now you can stop hiding your alcohol like some kind of vagrant."

Snake gave out a long, thoughtful grunt.

"Something that matter?" asked the princess.

"I don't hide my alcohol use from anyone. It's just that Isabelle got to the mini-fridge before I did, and stocked with bottles of some fruity looking drink. I don't typically drink sugary cocktails."

Peach's eyes widened, color draining from her face. Before Snake could ask what the matter was, the royal spoke in a hushed whisper.

"Is it…seafoam green for the bottom layer, sky blue for the middle, and navy for the top layer?"

Snake raised an eyebrow, "I'm assuming you're familiar?"

"Vacation Juice," Peach shuddered,

"So you are?"

"Am I ever? The Villager made his own for the tournament afterparty last time. To say that myself and a few others got sloshed beyond repair is an understatement."

"The Villager made moonshine?"

"Is that what homebrewed alcohol is referred to as in your world? Then yes."

"Damn, guess I missed some fun while I was on ice. Please tell me someone filmed it."

"I had them all destroyed by royal order. But, I can't say the same for Cloud drunkenly proposing to Bayonetta."

"Oh my God."

"Falco has the master copy, talk to him."

Snake chuckled, "I'm going to, most certainly."

Suddenly, Peach's communicator went off. She quickly scanned the message before standing up to leave. One Toad attendant took her now empty teacup, while another brushed down the spot where the teacup had been with a handkerchief, "My apologies dear, but Mario needs me to lend him an ear over some tournament matters. I hope you don't mind."

Snake waved his hand dismissively, "Not at all. In fact, there's a certain blue jay I need to pay some money."

Peach giggled, "You have fun with that now! Adieu!" Peach said, striding out of the kitchen, tea in hand, her attendants scuttling behind her.

Snake slammed the rest of his coffee, making sure to note that even the stalest coffee here tasted better than the rations he was used to as he took his leave.

Game Room

In the basement with only the soundproof Core Machine Room beneath it resided one of the most popular sections of the Mansion, The Game Room. While technically a singular room, had multiple side rooms used for various manners of recreation. However, the main room, with the enormous wood-paneled big screen was where most of the action was. Whether that be gaming, movies, or watching sports, when a group wanted to watch something, this is where they came. Today, however, the main event was a raucous conquest of a dancing game.

"GO WEEGEE! GO WEEGEE!" Daisy cheered, while Travis Touchdown, and River City quartet, watched further back on a couch, the couples snuggled together

The man in green, Luigi, was cutting a virtual rug on the Mario Mix of Dance Dance Revolution, and he was off to a hot start.

You can-come from- anyone can play

The normally aloof Luigi stared transfixed at the screen. He had to break Bayonetta's record…he had to.

And we-will come- on the inside

"It almost looks like he's button-mashing, but he's hitting everything," Travis announced, while Kunio shushed him,

"Yeah," agreed Kunio, "Like one of those TAS bots."

"Nerrrrd" whispered Kyoko, playfully sticking his tongue out at him.

And when-you get-right into the heart

"YEAH! GET RIGHT INTO THAT HEART," Daisy cheered, Luigi's combo yet unbroken.

"I like how nobody shushes her," pouted Travis,

"She's his girlfriend, she can be hype. You're just pointing out how he plays, and that's obnoxious." Riki growled, Misako snickering in response.

You know- there's no other way to cry

Smile will bring the sunshine days

The refrain had started. Luigi felt good about this run. This was his moment.

Comfort me tonight, with your wings tonight.

Smile will bring the sunshine days

You come anyway, on the way you ride, on the way you riiiiiide.

The lyrics melted away, all that was left was him and the music. With almost lightning speed and mechanical precision, Luigi nailed every note exactly on time to the cheers of the onlookers. The refrain looped its first two lines. The change in lyrics had thrown Bayonetta off oh so briefly when she had eclipsed Marth's old high score. He wouldn't make that same mistake.

A chance,

To have,

Flying that way,

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH," screamed the onlookers at once, as Luigi nailed the fabled lyric change like it was nothing,

As I fly.

Across the distant sky,

Smile will bring the sunshine days

Comfort me tonight

With your wings tonight,

Smile will bring the sunshine days

You come anyway, on the way you ride

A break in the lyrics allowed Luigi to hear the cheers of his audience. But the respite was brief, and Luigi swung into action for the final stretch

Comfort me tonight, with your wings tonight,

You come anyway, on the way you ride,

You come anyway, on the way you ride.

The music stopped, and as the on-screen avatar of Mario flew the S.S Brass to Bowser's Castle. As the game played a cheering sound effect to denote a cleared level, the cheers of his friends were much louder.

"CAN I CALL YOU A DANCING MASTER?" the game's overzealous announcer asked as his score was tallied.

And that's when Luigi saw it. The blessed green text that read High Score. Without thinking. Luigi threw his arms up. He had done it!

The cheers were even louder now, realizing what he had done.

"The beast…hath been conquered," a winded Luigi declared.

Daisy threw her arms around Luigi in a bearhug, laughing and cheering as she did. Kyoko hugged Riki tighter at this, letting out a soft, "aww,"

"Whelp, 'grats on that and everything, but this is getting a little too snuggly for my liking. I'm gonna go play pinball if anybody wants to join," Travis declared, getting up to leave.

"LOOK AT THESE YOUNG PEOPLE AND THEIR DARN DANCING GAMES!"

Every head in the room turned to the entrance as Mister Game and Watch ambled through, Pacman following behind,

"IN MY DAY," Game and Watch continued "IF YOU WANTED TO DANCE, YOU HAD TO GO TO A CLUB, AND HOPE SOMEBODY DIDN'T TRY TO DO THE CHARLESTON WITH YOUR GIRL."

"The Charleston? Jesus, how old are you?" snickered Travis,

"RESPECT YOUR ELDERS YOUNG MAN!" screamed Game and Watch.

"I mean, you are right, not having to go to a club is pretty groovy," interjected Pacman, his smooth, level voice radiating calm to the room, "You're Travis right? I'll take you up on that game of pinball man," said the yellow man.

"I'll try not to school ya too hard old man," snickered Travis,

"We'll school him for ya sir!" said Kyoko,

"No need young lady. Though, the last time I played pinball was at a prog rock concert in 1972. Woke up in a cornfield three towns over wearing someone else's gloves, and wearing of somebody's bellbottoms as a hat."

"How?" asked a deeply confused Misako,

"That's what happens when you accept a grilled cheese from a stranger."

Pondering that, the group all got up to go to one of the side rooms, leaving Daisy and Luigi to ponder all they had seen

"Seven Stars, I love this place," mused Luigi, a grin on his face.

"I loved watching you get a high score more," Daisy purred, her eyes fluttering flirtatiously.

"But-a baby, I'm tired."

"Oh? You're sure you wanna sleep?" Daisy said, laying on the sultry voice even thicker, and swatting Luigi lightly on the butt.

Luigi wheezed for a split second, his cheeks turning cherry red, "Alright. You-a got me."

"Great! Then to your room, we go!" Daisy shouted with a laugh, pulling Luigi by the hand out of the game room.

Roof

Sephiroth was one of the first people to exit the Smash Mansion after the meeting, wordlessly leaping from the courtyard to his usual post on the roof. He fancied himself a watchman and didn't care what anyone thought of that. Mario and company must've known that too, as no one had complained to him.

It had given him time to understand the inner workings of this dimension. He quickly figured out that the weather changed so reliably he could set a metronome to it. That went for all other planetary functions too.

"Order, peace, resources. This is how it should be," muttered Sephiroth to himself.

Closing his eyes, letting his head bow Sephiroth allowed the alien feeling of relief to wash over him.

As if on cue, something interrupted his peace. The flapping of wings.

"Sleeping on the job are we?"

The voice was shrill and scratchy, so annoying that the sound scratched at his skull. The One-Winged Angel opened his eyes to find Ridley hovering at his level, his gangly arms crossed, an indignant frown on his half-metallic mouth.

Sephiroth merely scowled at him.

"Don't look at me like that," snapped the creature, "I came to offer praise but..I'm rethinking that. When I heard about your reputation, a sleeping pretty boy isn't what I expected.".

Sephiroth stepped back, allowing Ridley a place to perch. The beast did so.

"My reputation? What might that be?"

"Quite an extraordinary one if I do say so myself," cawed Ridley, a devilish grin forming on his face, "We have a few supposed villains on our roster, but only a few of us have ever done anything particularly evil. Your work is in line with mine. I killed a bunch of drifters, then I killed a bunch of bird people, and in doing so I killed the only two families Samus Aran ever had," finished the leader of the Space Pirates, cackling with laughter.

"I'm assuming because I killed Strife's parents, you see me as worthy?" Sephiroth asked, his tone flat and emotionless,

"Listen, if you shoot anything heated at a machine, some power source is bound to explode some way or another. But you? You burned down an entire town with no such power or allowances. That, my friend, is an artist paying attention to his work!"

"I see no art in it."

For a second, Ridley's maw hung agape, his eyes wide, before straightening back up, "Why not?"

" I allowed my emotions to control my thinking."

"So, you regret it?"

The silver-haired man shook his head, "No. One cannot have regrets. It is the weakness of a feeble heart, leading to people clawing at opportunities to change the past. Instead, one must realize what's done is done, focus entirely on their ideals, and where the pieces may fall. Where the pieces fall then, is where your allegiance must lay."

"Oh, you're talking about this?" Ridley asked, gesturing to the grand mansion on which they stood, "This place has made you some kind of zen master?"

"I wouldn't say that, but if my place on the winning team means an alliance with Cloud and refraining from killing anyone, I would do so.. You, you would kill anyone that annoyed you the very second that they did so, regardless. That's the difference between you and I."

The Cunning God of Death smiled wide, "If that's what you think, then why do you think I haven't killed Samus yet,"

Sephiroth turned his back to Ridley, "Because you're afraid of her."

Ridley's smile wavered, his face contorting into an embarrassed frown. He snarled, "I thought you were made of sterner stuff. Yet you sit here and insult me. Very well. We'll see how far that philosophical grandstanding gets you in the tournament."

A small smirk tugged at Sephiroth's lips, "So we shall."

Ridley simply took off, flying into the horizon. Sephiroth let loose a sigh of relief, turning back to his post. Now he could watch the sky in peace.

Courtyard

Just below Sephiroth, a conversation was interrupted by Ridley's abrupt takeoff. Samus, Sonic, Bayonetta, Isabelle, all set around one of the tables in the courtyard, with Pikachu on Samus' shoulder.

"Hm. What do you think that was about?" asked Bayonetta, watching the Space Pirate take flight into the distance.

"Nothing good, I'm sure," growled Samus,

"But hey," Sonic said with a flippant shrug, "If the bad guys can't get along, that'll make our jobs a lot easier."

Samus only grunted, not taking her eyes off Ridley as he flew further and further away.

Pikachu let out a sympathetic "Chaaa."

Samus snapped out of her graze, grinning as she scratched her mouse companion where his ears met his skull, which caused Pikachu to let out a relaxed, peaceful breath, "I know I've got all of you buddy, and I'm thankful for that."

"Wait," Isabelle said, her pupils growing small with surprise, "You can understand him when he's not using his translator?"

Samus nodded, "I took him under my care after we all fought Tabuu. When you spend enough time with someone, you pick up their language and their nonverbals."

"Hey Belle," Sonic said to Isabelle, "I wonder if that means I'll pick up Animalese someday."

Isabelle blushed underneath her fur, "O-oh. Maybe," she stammered.

Bayonetta chuckled, "Why can't you blush like that when I tease you, Sam?"

Isabelle shrunk in her seat the call out. Samus, meanwhile, didn't even break from petting Pikachu to say, "Because you're not that good at it."

"I think it's more because you're a big strong warrior. Which is what I like…oh so much about you," Bayonetta flirtatiously purred

"So uh…" said an uncomfortably shifting Sonic, "You wanna see me run up the side of the Mansion Belle?"

Isabelle coughed, her latest breath sucked back into her lungs in shock, "I…that doesn't sound safe Sonic."

"I beat many a giant robot by throwing myself at them. I'll be fine!"

Sonic got up, stretching his legs, eying the building. Taking one last deep breath, Sonic bolted, jumping feet first at the building, zooming up as he landed. Flying past a throng of bedroom windows, he finally got up to the Mansion's roof, where Sephiroth stood.

"What on Earth?" asked the One-Winged Angel,

"Gotta speed keed. Remember, Team Chaotix is coming for ya!" he said, making finger guns as he dove off the building.

Okay, now here's the all-important dismount,

Backflipping off the building, and tucking into a ball once the descent started, he noticed that the table at which his friends sat was coming in fast. He shifted his body, landing feet first on the table, immediately spotting Isabelle's shocked expression.

"Woah…that was so cool!" squeaked Isabelle

Sonic smirked, "Eh, it was nothing."

Samus chuckled, "The best part was the finger guns."

"Wait…you saw that?" asked Bayonetta.

"Chozo DNA. I can see like a bird."

"You truly are fascinating Samus Aran," Bayonetta said, sighing dreamily and resting her hands on her chin.

"As are you Cereza," Samus said with a wink.

Bayonetta's flirtatious posture broke as she briefly sputtered, "Hey! Don't call me that while we're on the job!"

"This is work?" asked Isabelle, "This feels like a vacation."

"Well, it will be until the tournament starts, not to mention whatever the villains have cooked up," Samus explained.

"I'm concerned about that," Isabelle said, "I'm not a fighter like all of you."

"You wouldn't be here if we didn't think you could do it," Samus explained

Isabelle nodded happily, "Thank you, Miss Aran. I wonder if the other newcomers feel the same way, overwhelmed and anxious?"

"I'm sure. It can be overwhelming no matter who you are," explained Sonic.

Isabelle nodded again, "I'm sure you're right," said the secretary.

The Forest

"So let me get this straight," began the Villager at the conclusion of Link's newest tale, "You can fuel your motorcycle with…apples?"

"Yeah, more efficient to fuel than the original Master Cycle Mario built for me which requires a spellcaster who knows the proper enchantment, though I'll always be grateful to him for it," said Link.

"Pardon me but…what is a motorcycle?" piped up Erdrick from the back of the line.

He, The Links, Zelda, and Villager were walking through the forest to get to the river which ran through it, as it was Villager's favorite spot to fish.

"It's like…um…do you have Bunny Hoods where you're from?" inquired Young Link.

"' Fraid not," said Erdrick with a shake of his head.

"They are modes of transport. Think a horse-drawn carriage, but with no need for horses, and faster than a Rampage," Zelda interjected.

"What in the name of Xenlon?" gasped Erdrick,

"Marvels like that become second nature in time," assured Toon Link, "Why, where I come from is almost entirely water, so I had to get used to the concept of excessive land travel itself "

The way Erdrick slumped back to a less-jagged neutral posture showed that a world of anxiety had been lifted off his shoulders, "Ah, so truly I am not alone."

"Truly!" responded Zelda and Young Link together,

"Hey Zel," Toon Link asked, "How did you know that, about Erdrick's homeworld?"

"I looked up the bestiary of his homeworld in the library when Link informed me of his arrival."

"Ah. I'll have to borrow it someday. I doubt I've seen every beast my world has to offer," Erdrick said with an appreciative nod.

Zelda opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by the Smasher leading the pack, The Villager

"This is the place," he spoke.

And so, it stood before them, a well-built deck, presiding over a crystal clear lake. Birds and bugs alike chirped happily around them, the water sloshing occasionally to make the presence of an excited fish.

"Wow, when did this dock get here?" asked a stunned Toon Link.

Villager shrugged, "I built it before we all left last time. Consider it a donation to the Smashers from the people of Smashville."

"Hey Villager," interjected Young Link, "Why do you call your town Smashville if none of the Smashers live there?"

Villager chuckled, "I didn't build it, my predecessor, Tortimer did."

"Yes. I remember meeting the old man," Zelda recalled, "It was the first time Smash was used as a multi-dimensional political summit. He was there despite not having a Smash representative from his world. Master Hand was quite fascinated by how your people lived. Those qualities were represented in Mister Tortimer Well-poised kind, almost as if he were everyone's next-door neighbor, despite being a man of status. Weren't there other people from your world in attendance?"

"I think K.K, Tom Nook, and Resetti, were invited to spectate back in Melee. He rechristened the town as soon as he got back. He saw Smash as a place that interconnected many people of different types, and he wanted to emulate that in his town. At least, that's the town gossip." explained the Mayor.

"Is it true what I heard, that Otis and Mikey are from there too?" asked Toon Link as the other three set up their poles along the dock.

"Not 'from' there necessarily," Villager explained, "But that's their residence now. Lots of people got displaced by the Subspace Emissary, and so when I learned about this I opened Smashville up to refugees. That's how I met Otis, Mikey, The Wild Gunmen, The Excitebike Troupe, and the guy we got our Balloon Fighting training from."

"Wait, what happened to Tortimer?" asked Young Link, who was now setting up his pole.

Villager followed Young Link's lead, setting up his pole as he spoke, "Old man retired and lives on a private island."

Young Link simply nodded as Villager cast his fishing line into the water, "Oh, by the way, it's catch and release guys. We've got plenty of food and nowhere to store live fish."

The others nodded in unanimous agreement.

It was mostly silent for the next few minutes, each angler caught in their thoughts. Suddenly, Erdrick's spool began to spin fast. Erdrick quickly grabbed his fishing rod, but collapsed to the ground underneath the pull of the fish, being pulled further and further down the deck.

"I got it!" screamed Erdrick, "OOMPH"

A red flash of light erupted from Erdrick, a red aura surrounding him. He stood up, the rod still in hand, and pulled back on the rod. Like a dolphin erupting from the ocean, a mammoth green fish erupted from the water and flew through the air.

"HOLY-!" screamed the Link kids as they watched the scene unfold.

"ACCELERATE!" screamed Erdrick

This time, the red aura mixed with a green aura, Erdrick running towards the end of the dock, and sliding on his knees just in time to catch the enormous fish, and bolted down the dock, throwing it aways out into the water.

The rest of the gang's mouths were agape in shock, the silence broken by a screaming Villager "THAT WAS AN ARPAIMA!"

"A what? Did I do something wrong?" asked a bashful Erdrick, his colorful auras fading.

"THAT'S THE BIGGEST FISH IN THE RIVER!" Villager continued, his voice now a hoarse squeak.

"THAT WAS THE COOLEST THING I'VE EVER SEEN!" shouted Toon Link.

"H-how did you do…any of that?" Zelda asked, sputtering from shock.

"Oh, there are spells I can cast on myself. Ooomph makes me stronger, Accelerate makes me faster."

"Hm, so I see. It'll be interesting to see how you put your magic spells to use in the tournament," Zelda said.

"Likewise Princess Zelda! I can't wait to test my skill in front of everyone," Erdrick explained eagerly.

Suddenly, the attention on Erdrick was broken by Villager's line tensing.

"I might not be able to top you Erdrick, but watch how an expert fisherman does it," boasted The Villager.

Pulling and grunting, he fought the spool of his fishing rod. Sweating, and hoping to whatever fishing gods there were that the line didn't snap, he retracted the line with all his might, finally giving it the final pull, and…

Villager didn't notice what he'd fished out until the group surrounded it.

"A…colored egg?" asked Zelda, confused, holding up the rainbow painted egg for everyone else to see.

"Is it a fish egg?" asked Link

Villager found his way into the circle, frowning down at his latest catch, "Zipper."

"What?" asked Erdrick,

"He's a bunny, or at least a guy in a costume, from my world who pollutes the river with eggs around Bunny Day so people can get the prizes inside at the end of the festival."

"Is that sanitary?" asked Zelda, her nose wrinkling in disgust.

"I mean, I guess. No one's ever gotten sick,"

"How does he do it?" asked Link.

"That's the thing. No one's ever seen him do it, so it could be anything from hidden scuba gear to reality-warping magic."

"If it's magic, then I shall help you investigate it, " Zelda proclaimed.

"Princess please…" began The Villager, cut off by Zelda once again.

"No, it must be magic. How did he get to the dimension, much less on the Mansion grounds?"

" Your Highness, normally I would take up your investigative efforts with no hesitation. However, I can't lie to you. I lost sleep over it my first two Bunny Day festivals as Mayor, and I don't intend to ever again," warned the Villager, his eyes suddenly completely devoid of life.

And without a word, the group went back to fishing.

Smash Park

"TAG! YOU'RE IT!" proclaimed Elizabeth.

"Damn it! This girl's good! Faster than you Lemmy!" Bowser Junior said, the last part in a singing voice.

"Shut it, ya damn motorhead! We'll get 'em in Koopaling vs non-Koopaling dodgeball!" declared Lemmy

Some distance away, on the park's sole bench, sat Subject Zero, bathrobe flowing pleasantly in the wind. He was supervising his young ward, Elizabeth, as she, Ness, Lucas, Cuphead, and Megaman battled the Koopalings in a game of tag, with Piranha Plant, Otis, and Mikey all sunbathing a safe distance away. At first, he'd been apprehensive about Elizabeth playing tag with spiked reptiles, but the Koopalings had been gentle with her, despite appearing to be competitive brats at first glance. They also were a bit too sailor-mouthed than he liked, though he was sure she'd heard him cuss a few times, and she hadn't repeated any of it, so he supposed it was fine.

Suddenly, a booming voice interrupted, "THERE YOU RODENTS ARE!"

Bowser stomped up to the bench, taking a seat next to Subject Zero, which dwarfed the amount he had to sit on considerably.

"Yep! It's like you say, Daddy, play fair amongst potential allies!" Wendy chirped.

"That's my girl! I didn't mean to interrupt, continue your game," pridefully chortled the enormous king.

The game continued, the grownups sitting in silence for a second, before Bowser stuck out an engulfing clawed hand, "Name's Bowser, King of the Koopas, how ya doing?"

Tentatively, Subject Zero returned it, Bowser slowly closing the hand, and shaking it.

"Huh, got a grip their pal," Bowser remarked,

Suddenly, Bowser's gaze snapped over to Elizabeth, who was currently running away from a lumbering Morton.

"She's yours?" asked Bowser.

"In a sense, yes."

"Ah, adoption. Lotsa people think I adopted all mine, but nope. Seven wives."

Subject Zero simply nodded.

"Turns out, when you're a king, you're the most eligible bachelor in town, even if the girl you really want is off-limits."

"Who's that?"

"Peach," snarled Bowser,

"Mario's girl?"

Bowser sighed, steam erupting from his nostrils, "Yeah. Me 'n her were childhood friends. Always sorta thought it was meant to be, but when I heard she was meant to be married off to a prince of Sarasaland, I kinda..well…I snapped?"

"Snapped? "

"Kidnapped her."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. I've tried a couple of times, actually, and some mayhem always separates us again, whether it be Mustache or somebody else."

"And yet, you eat at their table?"

"I do. They've shown me more kindness than I ever could deserve. I only do it now when the citizens are down my throat about somethin' I'm doing or I'm alone with my thoughts for too long. They know that now though. Last time was super bad though. Blew most of the treasury on an extravagant wedding for us. But when Peach walked away from us after we threw down, he comforted me. He's a good man. I'm happy for 'em."

Suddenly, they heard a loud 'oof', followed by Larry hooting, "Ooof, leg sweep."

Both parents turned to see Morton thrashing on his shell, with Elizabeth standing triumphantly over him.

"MORTON!" roared Bowser, "WHAT HAVE I TOLD YOU ABOUT PARRYING! WAX ON, WAX OFF YOU LITTLE TURD!"
"Dad!" whined Morton, "We've watched that movie from Mac's universe like thirty times and I'm no better at karate."

"That sounds like a 'you' problem," mocked Bowser, "Kids! Help him up. Also, make sure to eat your dessert in front of him at dinner tonight and mock him extra hard, because he is grounded!"

"Yes Daddy…" grumbled Morton

Subject Zero's eyes were wide with shock, "You gotta treat 'em with tough love," explained the Koopa King

"I'll keep that in mind."

"You'd better," Bowser snarled, "Though, your girl's a toughie. She'll survive just fine. Thanks for listenin' to me rant by the way."

"It's not a problem Bowser," muttered Subject Zero.

Bowser's eyes softened. Luckily, Zero was already looking away, because he reckoned he'd have looked away if he'd been making eye contact.

"Listen, some of the dads and I throw a barbeque after the first round's over, we started it last year. You wanna get in on it?"

Subject Zero shrugged, "Sure."

Bowser was about to open his mouth to say more, but was cut off by the approaching sound of a motorcycle engine.

"HEY PORKY! WANNA GO BOWLING FOR SOME KIDS WITHOUT MOMS?" screamed Wario.

Subject Zero immediately bolted to his feet but felt Bowser clamp a hand on his shoulder, "Tough love," sagely reminded the Koopa King.

Cuphead jumped into the air, screaming, "ENERGY BEAM!" spraying what seemed like a gallon of milk all over the ground. Porky, who was running just behind Wario's motorcycle, hung back. Unfortunately for Wario, it was too late, as The Wario bike slid on the enormous puddle, knocking him off it.

The kids pointed and laughed. Piranha Plant ran towards the scene, growling and looking for a fight, but Junior simply held out his hand to motion "stay" and, with one whiney growl, Piranha Plant did so.

Finally regaining his composure, Wario stood up as red as a beet, picking up his bike, mumbling, "This isn't over. I'll see you shrimps in the training room."

"Mister Wario, if Cuphead hadn't been there, you woulda pancaked those losers, because they're WEAK!" shouted Iggy, to which all the Koopalings nodded in agreement.

"Weak? Like you Herbs woulda done any better without me!" shouted Cuphead.

"We will! And you'll see that when we join Mister Wario and Mister Porky in the training room during physics week," sneered Wendy

"You royal runts are glad I owe yer father a few favors, or else you'd be right there with 'em."

"Nevermind cottage cheese ass over there, we are OUT Koopa Kids. We've got walls to paint on. To Team Chaotix's room!" Bowser Junior declared as he, the other Koopalings and Piranha Plant scampered off,

Just as Subject Zero went to tend to Elizabeth, he heard an obnoxious sniffle, and Bowser say, "That's my boy,"

"Elizabeth, are you alright?" asked Subject Zero, kneeling down to the little girl's level.

"Yeah! At first, I was scared, but then I realized Ness, Lucas, and Cuphead good, brave kids, so they'll protect me!" she said in her usual upbeat tone as if nothing had happened.

Subject Zero smiled, "Good, after all that, I think you deserve some ice cream."

"Yay!" cheered Elizabeth as they began their walk to the Smash Mansion together, hand in hand.

Brawl Caves

Tucked away in the deepest part of The Smash Forest was an unassuming, dark system of caves. However, if a Smasher had been in the know long enough, they knew exactly what these caves meant.

It always seemed that whenever something got Master Hand in a particularly irritable mood, he would make the guilty party run a gauntlet against computerized versions of their Smash Brothers colleagues This was more difficult than what was the standard training gauntlet, dubbed "Classic Mode" as everyone was fought back to back in five rounds, in an order that seemingly only made sense to The Hands, with minimal healing items, and failure meant starting all over again. While this had been a "wacky family tradition" as Mario would later go on to call it, the rest areas for these gauntlets had been outdoor, serene places, the park in the Melee tournament, or the alternation between Smash Mountain and The Grand Canal in the Duel tournament.

The lone exception was the Brawl tournament's location for the event, the caves.

Feeling particularly grumpy that year, which in hindsight was probably due to knowledge of the impending Subspace Conflict, Master Hand demanded that Sonic, who had made one wiseass comment too many at the opening meeting, was made to hike the forest and do his training in the almost completely dark solace that affectionately be known as the Brawl Caves.

Even after Brawl Caves were no longer used for their original purpose, Ganondorf, King of Gerudos, would continue to spend time here. A desert dweller who often traveled great lengths, caves were a sanctuary he was intimately familiar with. But, his solitude didn't last long. Donkey Kong had barged in one day, before the Duel tournament looking for rocks to smash. His claim that he could smash rocks better than The King of Evil, had irked Ganondorf, awaking some childish need to prove him wrong. Rumors had spread, as they do, and the Rock Crushing Competition entered its first year as an invitational. The Kongs, King K. Rool, Little Mac, Doc Lewis, and Incineroar had all shown up. Each person had multiple rocks, each marked with a haphazard paint job of a streak by the middle by Diddy Kong.

"Gentlemen, we know why we're all here. We all know the rules. Whoever does the cleanest split of a rock wins the contest," explained the King of Evil.

"We'll go first," Doc Lewis piped up.

Ganondorf sneered, "We? This isn't a team affair Mister Lewis."

"I know that! We've just been sparring whenever we get the chance, and we need to finish it off."

Ganondorf sneered deeper, opening his mouth to deliver an angry protest, but Incineroar piped in, "Uh… if it's all the same brother, I'm gonna need to hulk up too."

Ganondorf's demeanor softened, though he seemed annoyed rather than uproariously angry, "Do you three have any objections?"

None came from the Donkey Kong Island trio.

"Alright, you may begin."

Little Mac and Doc stepped up to the rock, painted green to resemble the underdog boxer's signature shorts. Briskly, Doc Lewis slapped Mac. Mac beckoned for another, and then another. Ganondorf grinned while the others flinched. He understood what they were doing. Mac, meanwhile, stood poised, his right hand flashing before uppercutting the rock down the middle. The crocodile king flinched, but the others remained still. They'd witnessed the Star Uppercut in the Duel tournament, even if Mac's showing overall was underwhelming. It was nothing to mess with. The Kremling King ambled forward next, one hand gloved in a boxing glove, drawing the first back, and Smashing the rock clean in half as Mac had, except it was slower to break and even slower to fall to the side. He snarled in Mac's direction as if to goad him into beating his record, but Mac stood firm, not taking eyes off the King Cremling. Donkey Kong stepped forward, winding up his signature Giant Punch. DK snapped to a neutral stance, his eyes bearing an angry fire, his teeth gritted into a rage. Reeling back, Donkey Kong connected with the rock, the piece of foundation split into four pieces. Ganondorf himself sauntered up next to the sounds of DK's friends still applauding his effort. The applause stopped when Ganondorf turned his back to his piece to his target, cocking his dominant arm back, dark energy pulsating in his hand, shifting on his toes to face the rock. He didn't quite understand the logic behind it, but something about using one's muscles to pivot while channeling the energy like this made it channel more. And as his fist slammed into the rock, it shattering into a million pieces, and even more when those pieces flew and broke among the cave wall.

"I concede," Diddy barked, his eyes wide with shock.

Ganondorf cackled. The laughter stopped, however, when Incineroar sauntered up to him.

"Hit me, pump me up," seethed Incineroar

A Warlock Punch later, and it was like hitting steel. Incineroar's veins were more visible now, outlined by fire, and the big cat was smirking.

"C'mon. You can do better than that," snarled Incineroar.

Ganondorf turned his back to him, hitting his Charged Warlock Punch. Again, steel. Veins were even more defined now.

Donkey Kong laughed at Heel Pokemon's lack of flinching, "Oh? Like you roodypoos could do any better."

Kong charged his Giant Punch again, firing off while sprinting towards Incineroar. More of the same.

Mac launched forward, his fist burning red from a straight lunge. More of the same.

Diddy charged his jetpack, quickly throwing himself to the ground and unstrapping himself from it, ensuring the jetpack flew right into Incineroar. As he had done with all the others, Incineroar simply puffed out his chest, tanking the explosion. Incineroar had a mad, wide smile on his face, snarling, "I'm ready now,"

Incineroar picked up his boulder, throwing it. The ropes of a wrestling ring appeared, and the rock bounced off of them. Bring his arm up and out, the wrestler cat's beefy arm collided with the rock, and behind him, all the other spare rocks melted into molten slag. Staring up, smirking at his slackjawed competition, Incineroar simply asked, "Do you smell what I'm cookin'?" sauntering out of the caves.

The Grand Canal

The Grand Canal was about halfway up Smash Mountain. This was where the Smashverse's water supply was filtered, some of it going down to the lake, some of it being filtered to the underground pipes to the rest of Smash City for all the things people needed water for. However, the walking path near it served as a meeting place among the Smashers, and was typically a peaceful place, unless…

"WHY IS SHE ALWAYS LATE?" roared Charizard

"Why are you always so impatient?" Ivysaur grumbled

Charizard huffed, a burst of flame jutting into the air, "Hey, shut up you old grouch!"

"Enough," Red, the owner of the three Pokemon muttered just loudly enough for them to hear, "And Squirtle, quit making faces at your brothers."

Ivysaur and Charizard turned to look in at their youngest cohort, Squirtle, who was in fact in the middle of making a goofy face, his mouth stretched wide with assistance from his paws, tongue out, much in the same way one would make a small child laugh. Squirtle let out a grunt of shock, realizing he'd been caught, sheepishly slinking back in embarrassment

Red found himself zoning out oh so briefly but was snapped to reality by a familiar voice behind him.

"Ah, so you're here."

Red smirked, "I'm here because I've been waiting for you Green,"

He heard Green begin to say something in protest, but the noise got caught in her throat, resulting in a grunt. A beat of silence before she quietly spoke up, "Am I…late again?" she asked.

"I mean, yeah," Red said with a flippant shrug, "But we like being here."

"And that makes three of us," grumbled Charizard

Green stomped her foot in annoyed protest, "Hey! Be nice!" she shouted, "I like this place too. I get sentimental about it a lot because this is the place where we…"

"Qualified," interrupted Red, his expression suddenly becoming grim.

As a result of the Duel tournament, memberships of some of the Smashers came into question. The Ice Climbers had outright quit when they found out Master Hand was to resume his post as if nothing had happened in the Subspace conflict, and Red had recommended his childhood friend, Green, who unlike Red, had traveled to multiple regions to become champion of the whole world. Unbeknownst to Red, however, Master Hand didn't particularly appreciate Pokemon trainers, especially one that had operated so dismally in his tournament, opting to bring back only Charizard, because of the quartet, he'd sold the most merchandise. While the critique of his performance was justified (he had lost in rather convincing fashion to Ike in the first round), he thought that another chance was warranted. Master Hand had agreed, if the two could win a "Two against the world" version of All-Star, with one elimination resulting in the firing of them both. They had completed the challenge with healing items to spare.

"Man, I don't think I've ever been so happy to have aced a challenge in my life!" said Green.

"Yeah, for sure!" agreed Squirtle,

"Yeah…" Green mumbled

She noticed she was zoning out when Charizard huffed another jet of flame into the air with a grunt of annoyance. Green chuckled to herself. Whenever she was here, she caught herself staring at the ambiance of the place. Suddenly, her gaze snapped something, on a pilar to their right, pointing up at what she saw, "Look! The statues from when we defeated everyone are still there!"

Red followed her gaze, and sure enough, the Duel tournament participants were emblazoned in figurines, each figurine given its own hollowed-out space in the stone pillar.

" Those look so clean I almost wonder if they're gonna use the space again. What do you think?" Red asked.

Green shook her head, "No. All-Star was more of Master Hand's thing. Seems like Mario's modus operandi is to punish people with Battlefield training. Torri heard from someone about the dance party people before it even broke in the meeting."

Red chuckled, "She's one to gossip is she?"

"Yeah!" said Green with a similar chuckle, "She talks to everybody."

Charizard suddenly roared, "Oh enough! Show us your Pokemon Green!"

"Aw get hit by Pound Charizard!" Squirtle whined, a deep frown on his usually happy face, "I like it when Red and Green talk together. Feels like home you know?"

"Plus you could stand to not be such a jerk," grumbled Ivysaur.

"As much as I hate to say it, Charizard is right," said Green, her hands moving to the three Pokeballs on her belt, "I kept them secret from you, and now it's time!"

Green, now with her Pokeballs nestled in her arms, spread her arms wide, "GUYS! GO!"

The balls traveled a few inches in front of her, each opening to reveal their contents. The first two were humanoid in form, a skinny blue lizard who stood with his arms crossed, and a lean yet muscular white bunny with an orange lower half in a karate stance. The most visually striking was an enormous green gorilla who wielded a drum, twirling his drum sticks idly. Upon seeing the situation, the bunny's eyes went wide, "Green, is this…?"

"Yep Cinderace," Green said, pumping her fist in the air, "This is Red,"

The lizard chuckled, "Kanto Pokemon? Interesting to say the least."

Green attempted to interject with an "Inteleon, be polite," but it was too late. Charizard's eyes were already rife with anger, his body tense

"WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN!" roared The Flame Pokemon, flapping his wings violently.

Suddenly, a puff of smoke erupted between the two parties, Greninja standing in its wake, "Enough," growled Greninja

"Greninja's right Charizard, save it for the arena," Red scolded his ward.

Suddenly, another voice rang out, "Ah! And so it is Master Greninja who has lost the contest!"

Fluttering down to meet them from seemingly nowhere, twirling his sword like a helicopter blade Yoshimitsu was among them, landing behind next to Greninja, Green yelped out in shock, "How long have you been here? Why are you here?"

"A stealth competition. I invited the other ninjas out to see who could scope the area the longest. It seems I've won," chided yet another voice.

Emerging from beside a statue of Wario in the statue pillar, Ryu Hayabusa jumped down to meet the ever-growing ensemble.

"Perhaps I underestimated you, being merely human," Yoshimitsu chuckled, "But it appears you were the best ninja of us at this moment."

"Shall we scope out a location for round two? Winner picks," Ryu challenged his fellow ninjas.

Yoshimitsu gasped, mockingly, which caused Greninja's eyes to narrow, "Zounds!" yelled the bizarre masked man, "So I must adapt once again to the complexities of this modern world. No matter! This time, I shall reign supreme!"

Hayabusa simply shrugged, turning to walk away, Greninja followed briefly, turning to stop to growl, "Don't count on it, mon ami," as the two losing ninjas departed the Canal together.

All eight stood in complete bewilderment, with Red finally breaking the silence, "So you went to Galar it looks like. How'd you like it?"

Green shrugged, "Interesting Pokemon, good food, but they have a stadium dynamic for even gym leaders, so doing everything in front of a live audience can be confusing."

Suddenly, the gorilla pounded on his drum, "Oi! You might not like it girly, but, I thrive in fronta of an audience. Tis why I've been askin' bout this place ever since ye told us 'bout it."

Green smirked, casting a sideways glance at her old friends, "I know you do Rillaboom,"

The eight stood in silence for a while, taking in the peace of the ninja-less Canal, before Ivysaur spoke up, "Wait, you're all Final Evos? Thought the rule was to rep each spot in the evolutionary family, which is why you had Froakie, Braxien, and Chesnaught last time."

Again, Green shrugged, but Rillaboom was the one who explained, "That Mario fella visited us in Galar 'fore the tournament started he did, said we all looked too interestin' to pass up."

"And," interjected Inteleon, "We fit the light, heavy, medium dynamic, unlike all you Kanto tubs of goo."

"Tubs of goo? Why I oughta…"

"Charizard, no!" Red barked, to which, again, Charizard relented,

"That reminds me. How are your Kalos family?" Ivysaur asked, looking bemusedly at his winged companion as he sulked

Green giggled, "Giving Professor Oak a hell of a time on his farm, along with all my other Pokemon. I wanted to take them with me, thought I'd stop faffing around..."

"Faffing?" Red asked, an eyebrow raised.

"It's a Galar expression, like 'screwing'," said Green, "Anyway, thought I'd stop screwing around and go for the League right away, but they have bizarre import rules, and I couldn't take them with me."

"Ta keeps the soil pure, it's what me grandfather always said," Rillaboom barked, pounding his chest.

"In case you haven't noticed, idiot, it isn't wartime anymore," Ivysaur growled.

"Tell that to Parliament old man," Inteleon mumbled, smirking.

"Regardless, I'm glad to test my mettle against other Pokemon from other places. Galar has a bad reputation because of its restrictions, but I want to prove them wrong, with everyone's help," shouted a determined Cinderace.

"Mm-hm!" Green agreed, her eyes lighting up, "And we're gonna run drills to get ready in the forest. You down for joining us Red?"

"I mean, it's up to them," said Red, turning to his crew, "Guys?"

Squirtle let out an enthusiastic, "Yay!" while Ivysaur simply nodded, while Charizard crossed his arms, "Prepare to be outdone, pricks."

Green's gaze snapped to her team, who all were deeply frowning out the dragon, "Guys, simmer down, it's Charizard, he's just…like that."

"If ye say so lass," Rillaboom growled, "We'll show 'im what's up in the ring,"

"Guys, enough dilly-dallying, let's head out," commanded Green.

And so, the group of eight headed down the stairs of the canal, each looking forward to the tournament ahead.

Smash Mountain, Base

"Say, Nana, what was our record climbing this thing last time?" Popo asked as he gazed up at the mountain, rubbing his chin in thought.

Nana mirrored her partner's gesture, "Well, the last time we climbed a mountain in a foreign dimension, we did it in three minutes, and that was with extenuating circumstances going on."

Popo shuddered. He remembered the fear of being amongst the Subspace Emissary. He remembered concluding with Nana that the best thing they could do was what they'd knew, climb the mountain, dodging Subspace enemies the entire way up, before being challenged by Meta-Knight Popo had never seen something as heavy as the combined might of The Halberd and The Great Fox crash into a mountain before the Subspace conflict. He didn't know there was a force mighty enough to shatter a mountain top.

"Yeah," nervously shuddered Popo,

Nana raised an eyebrow, "You okay?"

"Yeah, let's go."

"You need me to take point on this one?"

"That'd be great."

And so, as they'd done a million times before, they ascended the mountain, bouncing from ledge to ledge, Nana in the lead, Popo in the back. They'd never questioned their ability to leap mountains in a double-digit number of bounds when it took most normal folks they knew days to complete a similar task. Since they were children, the old stories had been grated into them by the elders. Legends of their home tribe, the Nakatsuka Tribe, said that once every century, the ice god Uemura bestowed superhuman strength on one man and one woman to serve as the protector of the tribe from the monsters that also made their home on the simply named Icicle Mountain. So they'd been chosen, and so they did, day in, day out. That was until The Smashers had come calling. Master Hand said knew Uemura personally and had chosen him upon his recommendation. While this was interesting in theory, Master Hand's patent for nonchalant deceit had been shown to know no bounds, which is why they'd left in the first place…

"HEY!" shouted Nana, snapping Popo out of it as they both continued the assent, "Eyes up front! There might not be any Topis, but we can't afford to get lazy."

"Got it!"

Onward and upward the Ice Climbers went. Popo took brief note of the many cave systems that seemed to dot their ascent before snapping his gaze back to his pink-clad beacon of salvation should the worst occur. After a few minutes of silence, Nana shouted, "Think we're about to reach the peak! Snow's getting thicker!"

"Like I don't know what a mountain peak feels like!" retorted Popo.

"Never hurts to review the basics!"

"Yeah, how often do you review basic arithmetic?"

"You know what I mean! Can't afford to…"

"…Get lazy, right!"

Three more leaps and Nana made the call, "Peak inbound!"

"No condors?"

"No condors."

One leap, two, three, four leaps…

"Here's the big one!" shouted Nana!"

The Ice Climbers simultaneously bent their knees, making the biggest leap of all to the snowy peak of the mountain. Their eyes widened in shock as they saw what waited for them.

"Lucario!" both Climbers gasped simultaneously as they landed

Lucario, eyes closed and arms crossed, grinned slightly. Popo observed his perfectly blue fur. He hadn't been there long.

"Are you surprised to see me?"

"No, but…usually we have mountain tops to ourselves when we come here."

"That's what I thought during the Subspace conflict, and what I thought today."

Popo confusedly raised an eyebrow, "Funny, I was just thinking about the Subspace on my way up here."

Lucario grunted lightheartedly, "I know, he told me."

"He?" Nana asked

"I did," growled a familiar voice.

Out from behind Lucario stepped Mewtwo, with a displeased look in his eyes.

"Mewtwo? What're you doing here?" asked Popo.

"I get kicked out of the cave I like to frequent once a tournament so the stupid Neanderthals can have their rock crushing competition."

"Rock crushing? Sounds fun!" Popo cheered a big smile on his face at the prospect of such an event.

"Hmph, I should've known," Mewtwo grunted in his usual haughty way.

Popo glanced at Nana, who suddenly had a very concerned look on her face, "Mewtwo, are you cold?" asked the female mountaineer.

"No!" snapped Mewtwo.

"You have to be!" Nana protested, "You're nothing but skin and bone."

"I…"

"No Mewtwo, if you come up here, you have to have a coat on. I'll even knit you one if you'd like."

"She's knit a ton of stuff before for the other Smashers, it'll be great!" Popo insisted, his smile becoming bigger and more forced

"You intend to persist the issue until I submit. For that reason, and for that reason only, I'll allow it."

"Yay!" Nana cheered.

Lucario chuckled, "Wonderful. Now you can stop using me as a snow shield."

"Mhmm, whatever," grumbled Mewtwo, telekinetically manipulating the snow to make a snowball.

"Well Mewtwo, we shan't waste any time. Back down we go!"

Popo sputtered in protest at his partner's sudden shift, "W-what? But we just got here!"

"Popo, you don't understand," hissed Nana, burning desire in her eyes, "A poor animal needs to keep warm,"

"Oh!" Popo shouted, dramatically throwing his hands in the air, "The poor animal that's controlling a snowball with his mind needs a sweater knitted with love?"

"Um…yeah," the pink parka-ed Ice Climber guffawed with a mocking perplexion, "Why do you have to say it like that?"

"Fine..." grumbled Popo, turning to hop back down the mountain with his partner.

Before the duo jumped down, Nana shouted, "We'll have that sweater for you on the double!" the word 'double' hanging in the air as they descended.

There was a moment of silence before Mewtwo piped in, "I wanted to throw that snowball at them so, so badly."

"I know," Lucario said with a nod, "But you've already got an intimidating aura as is, so it wouldn't kill you to be nicer."

The wind whistled as Mewtwo hung his head, absorbing his friend's advice.

"Hm, perhaps you're onto something. I'm already good with the kids, the adults…not so much."

"That may be a starting point," Lucario said with a nod, "Invite someone to the cave after the first round."

"That may be interesting. I'll consider the matter. Thank you for the advice…and warmth."

"I'm happy to help," Lucario mumbled

And with that, Mewtwo teleported off the mountain. To his room? To the caves? Lucario couldn't sense his aura.

Hmmm, would it kill me to be nicer too? I've been quite mean to the Phantom Thieves,

And with that, Lucario spent the day meditating, contemplating the next move.

"Duel Ball" Arena

Once, while perusing the Mansion's voluminous, but woefully underused library, Robin had found a quote, attributed to a man's name he could not remember, that read "Genius means little more than the faculty of perceiving in an unhabitual way." No place on the property embodied that phrase so masterfully than where he stood, the "Duel Ball Arena."

The story went that, one day, for reasons beyond the understanding of even the Smashers who claimed to know the old leader best, Master Hand had decided to revamp Target Test, a much-beloved training simulator in which one completed an obstacle course while destroying clay disks with bullseyes on them, aiming to not only destroy the targets, but to do it faster than everyone else, and revamped it into a game in which you lobbed a bomb at a tower of crates, hoping to cause the most destruction in two turns.

According to the older Smashers, many training simulators had gone by the wayside in the history of Smash Bros, Board the Platforms, Trophy Rush, Race to the Finish, or knocking falling trophies into a hoop atop Smash City's largest building, The Trophy Hotel. But Target Test was an institution damn it, a popular joke phrase which began life being bellowed out in all seriousness by Luigi when the Duel participants had learned of Target Test's end. While the other veteran Smashers hadn't been quite as dramatic as the cowardly ghostbuster about it, it was certainly a sentiment that was shared in the grumbles of men and women stuck in their ways. Wanting to give the new training exercise a fair try instead of griping about it, it didn't take many practice attempts for Robin to realize it was a puzzle of inertia and momentum. Attacking the bomb was part of the equation, but of equal importance was how the player hit it. Hit it low to take out the foundation? Bounce it off the back wall for vertical and horizontal distance? All valid strategies. Combining all these, Robin had established a score that was yet to be beaten, and when others came close, it was usually because of dumb luck. Robin had been a semi-finalist in the Duel tournament, losing to Cloud Strife, and while the placement was a source of pride for the white-haired mage, depending on how sentimental he was feeling when asked, his utter dominance at the game that had affectionately been coined "Duel Ball" could eek into first place on the list of his proudest moments as a Smasher.

"This is it father," came the voice of his wife Lucina from behind them.

Suddenly, the wall behind the former host of Grima slid upward, Lucina and Chrom stepping out of the dark tunnel, the secret door descending shut when everyone had cleared it

Lucina latched onto Robin's arm while Chrom, hands on his hips, a bemused smirk on his face observed the block structure, which had stood since the end of the Duel Tournament, and the bare bones colosseum which held the event. Chrom let out an impressed whistle of approval, "So, this is where my son in law's 'Fire Emblem' moment took place?"

Uncharacteristically, Robin sputtered, blushing, "I…I hardly think acing a training exercise compares with finding the Fire Emblem, of all things."

Chrom blew a raspberry, along with a dismissive handwave. Robin quickly cast a glance at Lucina, who was vibrating in an attempt not to erupt into laughter.

"Is there a point to your childishness Dad?" teased Robin.

Chrom laughed, " I was just going to say that we all have our heroic moments. Even more impressive if they are many feats, which requires many different skills. You, son, embody that. It's why you were very nearly the champion."

Robin nodded, "But I won't have truly conquered this subject until I beat Sir Strife."

"You can do it!" barked Chrom, the suddenness of which snapped Lucina out of a solemn look at the ground.

"You think so?"

"You conquered Grima, didn't you? You united Lucina with all of us after the Duel Tournament. There isn't anything you can't do."

Robin thought for a moment, suddenly snapping to an intense gaze, "You're right! But let's not discount you, or Lucina. We can win this tournament if we train hard."

"Right!" Lucina agreed, "I believe in the three of us."

Chrom simply nodded. Robin again casting a glance at Lucina, who was staring off into the distance, a determined look on her face.

Their moment of solace was broken by a booming voice erupting from the long tunnel to their left, "Hey! Is that Lucina I hear? That means her husband and old man aren't far behind!"

"Falcon, you big dumb dastard, I'm here!" playfully shouted Chrom,

Sure enough, Falcon, Fox, and Falco came into view, The Captain sporting his usual sauntering walk, Falco walked briskly grumbling to himself, where Fox's eyes just looked…sad as he ambled along.

"So you had to bring back up to challenge me eh? I'll wrestle all three of you!" Chrom boasted, his chest comedically puffed out.

"Afraid they aren't part of our usual rendezvous buddy. The fact of the matter is I'm keeping them from tearing each other apart."

Lucina stiffened so suddenly Robin felt the jolt, "Aren't you two…the best of friends?" she asked.

"Yeah but…" Falco started, anger in his voice, only for Fox to suddenly hold up a paw.

"Let me explain."

The next half hour or so went into Fox explaining Krystal's recruitment, what had been revealed in the preamble, and what happened in the aftermath. At the conclusion of their tale, Robin and Chrom's faces remained neutral, but Lucina's eyes were wide with shock, her lips twisted into a deep frown, "Sir McCloud., to say I'm disappointed as a deep understatement. You should know never to guard to a woman without her permission, much less without her knowledge" the former time traveler scolded the vulpine.

"I mean, his methods were suspect," Robin spoke up, "But I can't say I wouldn't do the same if I thought Lucina to be lost, especially after all we've been to. Chrom, would you not say the same of Sumia?"

"Mother," whispered Lucina,

Chrom thought for a moment, rubbing his chin, "I would. In doing so, however, I would be aware of the consequences Sumia would bring upon me. Concealing it from your friends was obviously the wrong decision."

"I know,"

"Oh, you think you know, till Wolf an' me beat the tar outta ya." Falco chided.

"Hm, that's what it's come to?" inquired Lucina

"Trust me, it woulda come to that sooner if Captain hadn't mediated."

"Birds of Prey for life baby," interjected Falcon with a salute

"Not to mention if Krystal wasn't hospitalized. I have no doubt she'd come after me then," Fox said,

Lucina frowned once more. The usually prideful and surefooted McCloud sounded dejected as if he'd been sleepless for several nights. He looked it too, so much so that Lucina could deduce it from atop the Duel Ball platform.

"It sounds like you need rest regardless," she said, nodding to Fox.

"Yeah, you're right Lucina."

"Falcon, can you make sure he gets to bed?"

Falcon nodded, and without further ado, pivoted on his heel to leave, putting an arm around Fox as the trio turned to walk away. Chrom wordlessly fell to a sitting position, scooting forward so his legs hanging off the platform. From a pouch in his armor, Chrom produced a small notebook and a pen.

"Father, what are you doing?"

"Writing your mother. You would do well to as well, as we haven't checked in with her."

Lucina nodded, taking a seat next to Chrom, and Robin taking a seat next to Lucina, the Ylissean royals sat in silence, enjoying the peaceful time with family.

Smash Stadium

If you had told Quinn Marmaduke at the start of his tenure at the Brawler School that he would someday be jogging through Smash Forest under the leadership of Wii Fit Trainer with Melee Champion Roy, his counterpart Marth, and the legendary Street Fighter Ryu with Pichu on his head, he wouldn't have believed you. But yet, here he was.

"Good job everyone! Keep up the pace!" shouted Miss Trainer from the front of the group. as the bobbed through an ever-growing thicket.

"Sir Ryu, I do not mean to offend in asking this," Marth asked the man jogging in front of him," But how are you keeping pace with the rest of us whilst not wearing foot protection?"

Ryu chuckled as he jumped over a downed log, Marth and Quinn doing the same when they were faced with it, "I travel barefoot, and when I'm not on a plane going from country to country, I'm walking."

"But doesn't it hurt?" asked Roy from in front of them.

Ryu shook his head, "No. If one does it enough, their feet callous. Oddly enough, it makes kicking less painful."

"I can imagine so," Marth said, grunting as the group bobbed and weaved between even more trees.

Suddenly, the group came to a clearing, and in front of them stood a metal blast door, which had the spinning knob of a vault in its middle. Above and around it stood a seemingly endless barrier of holographic hexagons. Quinn noted internally that it looked like the same barrier that indicated the blast zone of a stage.

"I'm assuming this is it?" Miss Trainer asked Marth.

It is indeed. I'll take care of the rest."

Marth stepped past the group, striding up to the door. He presented his communicator. To everyone's surprise, a light erupted from the vault knob, scanning Marth's communicator up and down. With that, the door opened. The group stepped through. Quinn would have closed the door, being in the back of the pack, but he was too awestruck by what he saw before him. Marth awkwardly stepped around Quinn to shut the door before saying, "Ladies and gentlemen, I give to you, Smash City, and it's crown jewel, Ultimate Stadium!"

The introduction didn't even process for Quinn. Seemingly cutting through the heart of a completely empty cityscape, and seemed to be as tall as Quinn could see.

The vibration that came from Pichy exclaiming "Pichu Pi..." is what snapped him out of his gaze.

"D-does this..,?"

The eyes of everyone were on him now, and Quinn was nearly choking on saliva, he cleared his throat, "How long does this go on for?"

'It cuts through the city, end to end," explained Roy, now looking to Marth, "People are given assigned entrances, and their lodging is coordinated to be near their assigned entrance correct?"

Marth nodded as he motioned the group in through the nearest entrance, again showing his communicator to a steel blast door, which swung open. Immediately, they were on an expansive stadium floor. Quinn had thought he had come to terms with the scale before, but standing inside a dome in which seats went into the horizon, and had enough room to wrap around in a dome was astounding.

"Amazing isn't it?" pondered Ryu, hands on his hips, "I've walked the Great Wall of China and been to the top of the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in my world, and the guided tour of this stadium they take the newcomers on would suggest it's multiple times longer and taller than either of those."

"Oh, it's expanded," Marth blurted in his now trademark nonchalant way, "We've engaged so many new worlds since the Duel Tournament we've had to increase the size multiple times over."

"Multiple?" shouted Roy incredulously, "But it fit the entirety of Mute City, and that's two billion people,"

"Surely," Quinn said, pausing to find his words, "Surely not everyone from our home universe comes to see the fights right?"

Marth shook his head, "Not everyone, but most people do. A place that exists outside of time, and is virtually free if one so chooses is a surprisingly great vacation destination."

"It can get crowded though. Hence why the rich and people traveling in groups buy airships. Think of them as flying RVs. Not nearly as much exercise going on as one would get walking around the city, but I'm sure it's a fun time," Miss Trainer explained, suddenly clearing her throat, "Speaking of exercise, class in session, drop and give me twenty!"

"Chu, chuuuu!" whined Pichu, leaping off of Quinn's shoulder in protest.

"You came out here with us, so I assumed you were ready!" Trainer shot back

Pichu simply cocked his head confusedly.

"Don't act shocked that we can all understand you," Miss Trainer teased.

`" As Vice President, I'm adding 20 pushups to your reps because you failed to wear your translator "

Pichu looked at Marth, "Piiiii," growled the electric mouse.

"You know the rules,"

"PICHU PICHU!"

"Pikachu has earned that right as an elder statesman of the Smash Brothers."

"Pichu, pichu," he protested, his hands flailing in all directions, before pausing, his forehead wrinkling to consider the matter, before mumbling, "Chuuuu"

Miss Trainer blew a whistle, "Alright gang, I hope you're as keen on exercising your joints as you are with exercising your gums. Drop and give me twenty! We've got work to do!"

It went like this for several hours. Pushups, running in place, and situps were the order of an intense cardio workout. After the last "event", a game could see which of the group could run In place without yielding, which Ryu won, Miss Trainer blew into her whistle, "Very good gentlemen! You're a very attentive, durable group."

"Chu…" whined Pichu.

Miss trainer glanced down at Pichu, "No, you're doing great for someone so young Pichu, keep it up."

Pichu grimaced as though Miss Trainer had said the most moronic thing in the world, "Pichuuuu," he groaned, flopping onto his belly, and curling into a ball.

"Well, I guess that's the end of that. He tried," blurted Miss Trainer through giggles

Through deep, winded breaths, Quinn finally mustered the strength wheeze, "You've had less?"

"Attentive groups, you mean? Oh yes," Marth remarked, having a similarly hard time catching his breath, "You should've seen when she tried to make Wario and Dedede do yoga."

"It was hilarious until Miss Trainer snapped," interjected Ryu, who, while breathing heavily, was nowhere near as belabored as the others.

" You snapped Miss Trainer?" Quinn asked.

"Yes," an ashamed Miss Trainer hung her head, "It took Master Hand's magic to get bits of Wario's skull out of the carpet."

Even though the cardio hell Quinn had just been through had drained most of his skin color, Quinn managed to go a few shades paler at the thought, "Creators have mercy"

"Miss Trainer?" a rattled robotic voice asked.

Everyone turned to the source of the noise, A Polygon modeled after Captain Falcon led two additional Polygons, a Yoshi-shaped and DK shaped one, each carrying hunks of plastic molded to look like stairs. The cargo-carrying Polygons gently set the plastic stairs into a pile on the floor. Miss Trainer blew into her whistle, "Okay everyone, each of you grabs a set of stairs, and I want 100 reps up and down."

"Goddess," moaned Roy, "At least I'll know how that man who got lost in the stadium felt."

Quinn raised an eyebrow as he headed for the pile of workout equipment, "Lost?"

"Yes. During the Melee tournament, a man from Fox and Falco's universe got lost, presumably, apparently to go meet up with a friend he'd made from somewhere else. The stadium is so expansive, he got lost, both searching, and trying to find an exit, for three days."

"Three days?" barked Quinn.

"Yes, and possibly longer if someone hadn't noticed a dehydrated looking dog-man ambling around. After I won the championship, I let him pose with it."

"That man is actually a trailblazer for the city," Marth noted, "The incident played into how the city was laid out for the Brawl tournament."

Quinn simply nodded. There was so much history Hart hadn't been able to or neglected to, tell his students. The young Mii Brawler couldn't be happier, engaging with heroes of a mythical status about a city he'd only heard about. Even he had to admit, it was too much to take in. His mind felt like mush.

My legs'll be mush after this is all said and done Quinn joked to himself, as he joined the others for yet another workout gauntlet.

Smash Mansion, Dinner time.

Mario sat at the head of a ridiculously long table in the dining room. He hadn't expected the non-grounded Smashers to eat together until Opening Night. He smiled under his mustache, marveling at how Kirby could melt even the coldest of hearts by insisting they all try a soup he and his "family" made together. Mario couldn't enjoy the meal for long, however, gobbling down the last of it, before announcing, "Got some business to attend to, see you all tomorrow."

Mario headed to the basement level, going down the long hallway to the administrative building, where ROB sat, watching the bank of monitors, eleven of which were on, keyed to the rooms and location of the mansion, an individual screen occupying each room that held a grounded participant, Sans, Saki Yoshi, Dante, Akechi, the two grounded Street Fighters Ken and Chun-Li as well as the Phantom Thieves suite.

"ROB, status report," Mario ordered.

"Everyone seems to be enjoying the property. Housing accommodations seem sufficient," droned ROB.

"Did the grounded folks get soup?"

"Yes. No negative reports so far."

"Did they get their marching orders for tomorrow?"

"Yes, to report to the Battlefield training room at sunrise."

Mario snapped his fingers as something came to him, "Any word from Conker?"

"No. I theorize being in possession of the Smash Core masks his inter-dimensional travel, so we are unaware of any movements unless it is inside a dimension we have in our database," the robot explained

"Figured as much. I don't like being on the defensive, but what can you do?"

Remembering something more, Mario let out a groan, "How's the other thing…team…"

"The Federation United Containing Kick-ass Individuals Today has been put in place, sir."

"And you're sure we can't change the name?"

If ROB possessed the ability to, Mario imagined he would be sighing right now, "As I've explained multiple times Master Mario, this has been in place since after Subspace. Crazy Hand named the squadron and locked the file using an encryption that even I cannot edit."

Mario chuckled to himself. Could ROB feel annoyed?

If he could, I'm sure he would've abandoned the job by now.

"You're right ROB I'm-a sorry. I just do not a-like that acronym."

"Understandable sir," ROB said, not taking his eyes off the screen.

"That'll be all, thank you ROB."

Mario awaited a parting word but got none. Turning to walk away, he wondered how ROB could be more vigilant at night.

At the moment, Mario got a text, an automated one stating that construction on the rooftop outdoor dining room of The Trophy Hotel. Of the seemingly thousands of completion of construction texts he'd been getting, this one made Mario smile the widest. He forwarded the text to Peach. With final preparation in full swing, Mario had been neglected her even more lately, even more than before the final recruitment drive. Peach was quick to respond, sending back the symbol corresponding with both a smiley face and a heart.

Someone's been teaching her those goofy text faces thought Mario as he headed up to the ground floor. I've only got the wide-eyed one down, having Sans in a group chat got me used to that one, but I'll have her teach me more.

Mario accessed the main level, hearing the Smashers chatter away as they continued dinner. Suddenly, Mario was made aware that a day of coordinating Polygons, Alloys, and Wire Frames for Smash City construction while the rest of the group had relaxed had made him very tired. Texting a quick, "Headed to bed, love you," to Peach, he headed for their room.

.