Intermission 3

Admin Team

Whelp Admin Team," Shulk sighed as the Smashers' Box broke into a wash of conversation, "We tried."

"You all tried," Sans teased, dramatically putting his hands on his hips in a heroic pose, "But I won. And Prince Blueberry hasn't gone yet."

"I object to that," Marth snapped, a grin on his face.

"It could be worse," the skeleton winked, "I could be back to calling you, Martha."

The lighthearted grin disappeared, a deep frown taking its place, "How do you know about that?"

"What," shrugged Sans, "I needed something to do between the commercial breaks on Lord Jabbu Jabbu Moves to Left, so I watched old matches. Not for combat tips, but for things to make jokes about."

Shulk and Marth rolled their eyes simultaneously, but Shulk was the one to vocalize it, "Of course! Hey Mario, I know how we can get Sans to do his j-"

\ Shulk turned to the red-hatted plumber, only to see him staring longingly at Donkey Kong, on the other side of the room, Diddy resting atop his massive bicep as a few other Smashers heaped praise onto the gorilla, who was smiling wide.

Shulk's expression softened, "Tough loss eh boss?"

"Not just this one," Mario shook his head, "I've-a been on a downhill slope in terms of Smash since-a Brawl. Kinda makes me wonder if the old cowboy's still got it in this world of gods and superheroes."

"You said it yourself," Otis, who'd been cleaning himself, piped in, "You didn't put as much time in the training room as you should have, and now that you're out, you've only got that and admin work to do."

Mario rubbed his chin in thought, "You're right-a! Thanks, guys!"

"Nah bro, even rusty, DK barely put you away," Luigi interjected from behind, slapping Mario on the shoulder.

"Don't let him hear you say that," Mario warned, his voice a whisper.

Now it was Peach's turn to step into the group "Well, it's factual information. You didn't go down without a helluva fight. That in mind, we're very proud of you darling."

"And I'mma proud of you," Mario nodded, "This was your best performance yet."

Blushing, Peach stammered, "D-do you really think so? I've been putting a lot of training time in."

"50 percent more approximately," ROB's voice blurted.

"Thank you ROB," Mario muttered, "But yeah, it's super obvious."

"Well," Peach giggled, "I'm glad my work does not go unnoticed! I have to be at my best if I'm to fight…"

Peach glanced over her shoulder, every other pair of eyes in the circle following. Daisy was gleefully chatting with Little Mac and Doc Louis just a few feet away,

"She's going to start boxing with them isn't she?" grumbled Peach, the question to no one, in particular, seeping with dread.

"Still feeling the Tokyo Olympics eh?" Luigi chuckled.

"Yes," Peach snapped visibly startling Luigi, " Do not act like you've forgotten my woes of having to drink sushi out of a straw for the rest of the competition Daisy hits like a freight train when she doesn't have Smash allowances, and now she's going to be training with a boxing champion."

"Well, Ryu's out, and he'd be happy to train you,"

"By Jove, you're right Mario!" Peach squealed, snapping her fingers.

"Any excuse to spend more time in the training room for that charisma vacuum," Sans grumbled.

"Oi, not all of us can be stand-up comics even in a fight," Shulk mumbled.

Sans chuckled, "Sorry bout the snipe, I'm just grumpy. Haven't eaten in like half an hour."

Sans snapped his fingers, causing three boxed pizzas to appear in his hand, "Now if you'll excuse me," came the smooth voice of the skeleton, elbowing his way through the crowd.

Sans, Dante, and Travis

"Got pizzas for my winnin' guys!" Sans announced as he got to the top of the auditorium where Dante and Travis now sat.

"Nice!" Dante cheered.

"Yeah, thanks," Travis mumbled.

Sans materialized an eyebrow so he could raise it, "Something a matter?"

"I think Terry passed along my communicator info to that Shurinai chick at some point because I keep getting lewds."

"Ain't nothing wrong with that right brother?" Dante said, holding his hand out for a high five.

"I mean, I guess?" shrugged Travis.

"You guess?" Dante bulked, "Who are you and what have you done with my friend?"

"I mean…" Travis paused, rubbing his chin in thought, "Silvia and I have always had a tumultuous relationship. But she's still the mom of my kids, ya know?"

"Are you together?" Dante snapped.

"Not if the future has anything to say about it. That headache stuff showed me a world where we barely talk."

"Then go for it, that's what I say," shrugged Sans. If I don't go for tellin' jokes to the door I'd have never met my girl."

"So you're saying go from one crazy chick to another?" balked Travis.

"I mean, at the very least it'll be a funny story."

Travis shrugged, taking a slice of pizza, "Sold."

"That's my guy!" Dante cheered, taking a pizza slice of his own.

DLC

Quinn sat bounced on his toes expectedly. Edelgard's rousing speech earlier had sparked an animated conversation about their next training session. Quinn, the only one who hadn't fought yet, couldn't focus on it. He glanced around the room, looking for Greninja. Finding the ninja frog sat meditating with Miss Trainer and Lucario near the top of the auditorium, Quinn winced.

"How can he be so calm?" he whimpered.

Terry overheard him, "Who, Greninja?"

"Yeah!"

"Well, Terry shrugged, "He's been doin' it for as long as your sensei right?"

"Yeah."

"Calmness comes through confidence." Terry explained, "The more real fights you win the more self-assured you'll get dude."

"Sir Marmaduke raises an interesting question," Corrin interrupted.

Quinn giggled, blushing as he did. "Sir, I'm not even a knight. Hell, I'm barely a squire," he mumbled.

"The calmness thing?" Terry asked.

Corrin simply nodded.

Suddenly, Terry's eyes widened, "Aw man, I hadn't thought about having to fight countrymen like you did."

"Yes…" Corrin mumbled, suddenly looking downcast.

"Look, I'm just a bumpkin from Southtown, but I'd love for both of us to get some tips at the Heroes of Askr dinner. That is if I'm your plus one."

Corrin blushed, "Of course you are. We promised each other we'd celebrate if one of us won our first-round match didn't we?"

"OKAY!" Terry cheered.

Quinn could barely keep his jaw from opening wide.

Damn, he's smooth, thought the Mii Fighter.

"Hey Erdrick," squawked Kazooie suddenly, "Is it just me or is Zelda making eyes at your Goku-lookin' ass?"

Erdrick briefly locked eyes with the princess, who looked away, rather loudly getting back into the conversation the three Links were having some distance away.

"Whether or not she wishes to court me aside, I must once again ask you to stop referring to me as this Goku character."

"I mean, you won't be so mad about it when he shows up in the final fight," Kazooie muttered.

"What?"

"I MEAN, ERDRICK AND ZELDA SITTING IN A TREE, S-H-I-P-I-I-N-G!" hurriedly yelled Kazooie.

"Forgive my English, but isn't it K-I-S-S-I-N-G?" Haru asked.

"No, it is," Ann answered, "Kazooie's just being a wise-ass like usual."

"Better to have a wise-ass than an over-inflated one," Kazooie whispered.

"Hey!" snapped Ann, Makoto stepping up to intervene.

"Guys, enough,"

"Yes, Makoto is right," Hubert announced, "Though, I could say the same thing about you and Mikey," smirked the mage, causing the smallest of grins to form on Edelgard's face.

"Hey, why don't you take that My Chemical Romance thing you have going on and make it My Chemical Mind Ya business."

"That...that don't make a lick of sense Kazooie," Banjo whispered.

"Somebody's gotta carry the funny while Sans is off-screen," Kazooie sneered.

Banjo rubbed his temples with his fingers, "I s'pose you're right."

Wario Family Wa-ffice

"So as I was saying, dis is all according to a-plan," Wario's voice boomed triumphantly.

Akechi snapped out of his haze. Wario had been reading the riot act to the Wario Family Wa-ffice, despite only the boss himself losing, and Porky throwing his fight against him, but the detective prince only paid it enough mind to save the fact that Wario's insecurities could be exploited for later on,

"Yes sir," blurted Akechi.

"I was a-thinkin' we could celebrate with-a going to-a King-a Dice's casino. Everybody in?"

Akechi shook his head, "I'm afraid not. I already promised Makoto I'd meet up with The Phantom Thieves at La Blanc to celebrate our mutual wins."

"Ungrateful punk-a. Fraternizing after work builds-a your reputation you know. Sephiroth, what about you-a."

"No," The One-Winged Angel's proclamation boomed.

"Perfectly fine my man," Wario's voice skittered.

Akechi expertly held it together as the fat man carried on.

"Ganondorf?" asked Wario.

Ganondorf shrugged, "I consider gambling to be haram, but I suppose I can partake if it is your wish."

Wario sneered, "You and I hit the slots every year, what the hell are you talking about?"

"Watching you and your woman fawn over each other is sin in and of itself sir."

"EY! YOU SAY SOMETHIN ABOUT MY GIRL YA-"

"HEY!" Porky barked, "Don't forget the favor we're going to cash in."

Akechi shuddered as Wario's face turned from a bloated, purple, near-planetoid sized vessel of anger into an evil smile, "WA HA HA HA! YOU'RE RIGHT! Ganon my man, you'll definitely want to come along, as it's a textbook lesson on how to plan for ze future."

Again, Akechi shuddered, That can't be good, he thought.

Isabelle, Snake, and The River City Girls

Snake sat, completely bewildered at the sight before him. Snake and Isabelle had been rooming together for a long time now, but he never could quite grasp how hard the little dog worked. She had zipped around the room to organize the hectic crowd that had gathered around The River City Girls as they had re-emerged from their victory, and now she was effortlessly scheduling the days of four people, theirs, her own, and his. His eyes widened as her pen scribbled on her notepad impossibly faster, probably faster than he could think at this point. The River City Girls, for whom the pen scrolled, sat opposite Isabelle, looking equally as shocked.

"So you've got rounds at the Smash City batting cage with Ness at 10:30, Training room time with Chun-Li at 11:30, a half-hour for lunch, and then training resumes with Captain Falcon at 12:30,"

"Uh...got it." nodded Misako.

"Misako… my head hurts," whined Kyoko.

"She uh...has that effect," Snake mumbled.

The dog growled at him, glaring daggers. And Snake, the man who had faced down bipedal tanks with nothing but the armament on his back, felt the hairs on his neck stand up.

"But you get used to ti," stammered Snake, and I'm very grateful for her friendship,"

With an alarming immediacy, Isabelle went back to her happy-go-lucky expression.

"As for YOU Mister Snake," she began, "I've prepared for two eventualities. If Dark Pit advances to the next round, Pit has agreed to an hour of training time to give you some pointers. If Green moves on...the best I could get was Pikachu and Pichu I'm afraid."

Snake raised an eyebrow, "Why them?"

"Because Red refused," Isabelle explained with a sigh.

"Hmmm," Snake grunted, "Honor among thieves."

"I suppose…" began the assistant, her eyes widening, "Oh! Speaking of, I've got my own training to do! One hour with Mister Akechi in the morning and then I train with Incineroar the whole rest of the day."

Again, Snake raised an eyebrow, "Isn't that several hours?"

"Yep!"

"You're sure you can take it?"

"I'm going to have to Mister Snake," indignantly snapped, her hands on her hips, "Joker's tough, and I'll have to up my pain tolerance even more, as well as learn some new moves if I'm to survive."

"Right, but…"

"The intermission period has ended. Mister Kazama, you are to proceed down Tunnel A. Mister Rizer you are to proceed down Tunnel B."

Jin nodded to the rest of the Playstation All-stars crew, who were cheering the loudest, as he walked to the front of the room. Meanwhile, Bill grumbled loudly about a robot telling him what to do. Jin stood at the center of the room, waiting for Bill to do the same, but the grouchy Contra simply walked down the tunnel immediately. Jin shrugged as he walked down Tunnel A.