Round 5: Day Zero

Smash Mansion
Quinn

The smell hit Quinn's nose immediately. Barbequed meat, fresh pineapple.

They're doing a luau buffett Quinn seethed inwardly, Those sons of bitches.

Wire Frames had materialized at he and Rosalina's sides, each holding two kabobs, one with meat, the other with fruit.

"Your food has been selected for you," the Wire Frame droned, "Per Mario's instruction, you will be locked in your rooms for 24 hours."

Rosalina gripped his hand in her's as the new entourage walked up out of the dining hall and up the stairs. The sympathetic glances of the Phantom Thieves only made the lump growing in Quinn's throat feel as though he was choking on a stone. The two walked along the silent Residency Hall. A Wire Frame stepped out ahead to open Rosalina's door, letting forth a flood of color in the darkened room.

"This is your stop m'am," the Wire Frame announced.

"Quinn…" she began.

A curious Luma, a green one, poked his head out, happy to see the two as it bobbed in midair.

Rosalina shook her head, "No little one. Quinn can't play today."

"But I'll be back to read a story to you, I promise!"

The Luma bobbed a little less enthusiastically, its forlorn gaze practically piercing Quinn's heart.

"Well, goodnight Rosa. I'll see you soon," said Quinn.

Rosalina nodded grabbing her kabobs from the Wire Frame, "Yes. We'll be together soon."

With that, Rosalina glided into the room, the Wire Frame shutting the door behind her. Quinn walked the remainder of the journey to his room. The Wire Frame in front open the door with his left hand, handing him the kabobs with his right. Quinn wordlessly snatched it, stepping into his room. The door slamming behind him, Quinn immediately sank to his knees.

Quinn angrily took a bite of his meat kebob, hoping it would offset the tears that began to roll down his cheeks.

Luigi

Luigi took a seat next to his brother, at the head of the long dining table, Daisy following quickly behind.

"We need to talk bro,"

Mario took a bite of his meat kabob, "About what?"

"Well," Luigi sighed, "Lotsa things."

"First of all," Daisy said, "Wasn't it a little mean to have Rosie and Quinn escorted away like criminals?"

Mario frowned, "Yeah. Unfortunately, it's one of those Master Hand quirks that even ROB can't override, when I give-a the "timeout" order, that's what happens. Even so, we can't have the Smashers sneaking around Smashcraft R, they'll be the key to our survival in the upcoming war, and if anything leaks out, that's something our enemies will seek out."

"Enemies?" Daisy huffed, "Like the dummies Diddy used to roll with?"

"Still can't be too careful," Mario interjected, "Conker sees one thing he doesn't like and he turns off the Smash Core, leaving us naked and blind."

High heels clicked against the floor in an elegant stride, causing all three to look up.

"I thought making strange, secretive bedfellows was your forte Daisy dear," Peach said, an insidious grin curling at her lips, "After all, it would explain your relationship with Kazuya."

"That's different," Daisy snapped, "The only reason why I'm teaming up with him against Quinn and Rosie is so Kazuya doesn't cry foul about a setup and go to the other side."

"You'd think he'd do that?" Mario asked.

"Yeah," Daisy nodded, "He sold out his son for less. Remember the factoid that came up when we were watching the fourth King of Iron Fist DVD."

"That he'd tried to abduct Jin himself after Heihachi did it?"

"Yeah, or at least suck his power from him," Daisy agreed,

"My word," Peach shuddered, "What a morbid and complicated set of affairs."

Luigi shrugged, "You know how I watch telenovelas. It's just like that in all honesty." "Thank the damn Stars somebody can keep track, because I can't," Daisy shuttered, before snapping back to a serious expression, "Anyway, I gotta play dumb to stroke Kazuya's ego. As far as y'all know, I just think animals that can do martial arts are cool."

"Right," Peach nodded, sliding a grape off of her kabob and eating it.

She daintily chewed and swallowed before speaking again, "That said, I do feel bad for how we treated Quinn and Rosalina. If anything, a man that's caused her to be so social and mischievous should be celebrated."

"I don't know about that, but…"

"Yeah girl," Daisy agreed with Mario's concern, "You're starting to sound like me."

Peach clasped her hands dramatically bowing, "Pardon my impudence, but I've been excited for Rosalina to come out of her shell for a long time. You've seen her at parties, during races, she's a social butterfly when she wants to be. Quinn's bonded with her Lumas, and now everyone can witness the beauty I see in her.."

"So what does that mean?" Luigi asked, "Does that mean we make him part of the crew, start inviting him to our little outings?"

"WOO!' cheered Daisy, "Group date!"

Mario shrugged, "I don't see why not. He's a good kid, and like Peachy said, he makes Rosalina comfortable socially."

"We owe that poor kid a nice meal after all this harshness," Daisy concluded.

Peach nodded in agreement, "We do."

The foursome began to eat quietly. Only when Daisy had wolfed down both kabobs did she break the silence.

"So, how ya feelin' about G-Dorf baby?" she asked.

Peach snickered, covering her mouth.

"G-dorf," she snickered, "An obtuse, yet hilarious nickname. Bravo Daisy!'

As Daisy offered a sarcastic curtsy, Luigi pondered this question, searching the crowd for Ganondorf.

"I mean, I wouldn't say I'm not sweating it. He's more ruthless than he's ever been, and Wario is back on his side."

Mario searched for Ganondorf at the massive table, finding Wario harshly speaking to the wizard.

"Oh no," Mario sighed, I thought we were done with this."

Ganondorf

"Ze Mario Brothers have-a made my life hell for as-a long-a as I can remember-a" Wario shouted.

"I know," Ganondorf nodded.

"And then-a as adults-a, they have robbed me of my home-a, my treasure-a…"

"I know,"

"At-a least I can-a respect Mario. He's fought tooth and-a nail for everything he has-a. That-a Luigi has been riding Mario's-a coattails for years, and even found himself a hot-a girl while-a meanwhile my man-a Waluigi's inbox remains empty on ze dating apps."

Ganondorf's face puckered in confusion, "What does this have to do with Waluigi."

"When my bro-a suffers, I suffer. When I suffer-a, everyone suffers."

"I can respect that, yes."

A slithery grin immersed itself across Wario's puffy face, "Then-a you understand-a… zis mission's importance."

"My devotion is to your mission, Wario. However…"

He snapped a glance at Zelda, who was a ways down the table, belly laughing at some joke Erdrick had told.

"I'd like to settle some old scores."

Wario nodded, "Hey-a, if you boys have ways to get-a yourselves hyped for the missions at hand, do it."

Ganondorf nodded, turning back to his food as Wario waddled off to chat with King K. Rool.

Red

The cool night air whistled as Red and Green placed bowls of Pokemon kibble on the floor. Green hoofed up the gigantic bag of it, pouring it evenly across the six bowls. Red's breath caught was caught in his throat as Green knelt down to close the bag, basked in the Mansion's quickly but expertly erected Splatoween decorations.

"Arceus," he whispered, "You're beautiful,"

Green's gaze snapped in his direction.

"Well thanks, but I don't exactly feel that way at the moment. Actually," Green said, jerking her thumb towards the neon ghost that shone on the mansion's highest tower, "I feel kinda like that guy."

Red chuckled, "You're just saying that cause you're hungry. Let's let the kids out and then we'll get you some food."

"You're probably right," Green giggled, shrugging.

With that, she retrieved three Pokeballs, Red doing the same.

"GO!" they both shouted.

Six bursts of light erupted onto the courtyard, materializing each of the trainers' Pokemon teams. Red's trio immediately bolted for their food, chowing down.

"Aye," Rillaboom grumbled, "Look at 'em, actin' like Boss Red hasn't fed 'em in their whole lives."

"Well, they won, they're likely hungry," Inteleon snapped, glaring at Rillaboom as if he'd said the most obvious thing in the world.

"Well color me damp!" Rillaboom chuckled, "Congratulations on the win Boss Red!"

Red tipped his hat, "Thanks, but considering it sounds like you were asleep in that Pokeball of yours, it must not have been that exciting."

"For the record, I was awake Boss," quipped Cinderace.

"Quiet you!" snapped Rillaboom.

"Maybe the old man can't hear things outside of his Pokeball like we can," Ivysaur chuckled with a mouthful of kibble.

"Oh for the love of," grouched Rillaboom, "Where's the grass type solidarity with ye?"

"Not my Primeapes, not my circus."

A bellowing laugh from Charizard reduced Rillaboom to grumbling under his breath, slowly turning to his food.

"Now," Green said, "Let's go!"

Green pulled Red through the courtyard, through the Mansion doors. It didn't take long before they were summoned.

"YO!" Falco waved a wing, "C'mon over."

Red and Green walked over, taking their seats next to the Link trio.

"In all my years Sir Red," said Link, swallowing the steak in his mouth, " I have never seen a shellacking quite like what you did to Wolf,"

"And I've… we've been here since the beginning," Young Link added.

Red shrugged, "Thank my Pokemon, they've been training."

Green jokingly slapped Red on the shoulder, "Pokemon would just stand around if we didn't direct the show, you know that."

"But we'd be on the level of those karate guys without them," countered Red.

"Speakin' of, you have Quinn next round." Falco said, "Any ideas on how you're training? Me an' Fox and Krystal have been in plenty of scraps in our day."

"I've got a plan," Red said.

"Hey, wait a minute," Green asked, "Where are those two?"

"Fox and Krystal?" Falco asked, "They took the room for some hanky panky no doubt."

"I should probably make those calls before the people I wanna train with get up to any funny business themselves."

"Need me to grab your food babe?" Green asked.

Red nodded, "I hate asking, but yeah, that'd be great."

"Got it," Green said, nodding back.

Falco went back to chattering with the Link trio as Red began to dial a number into his communicator. The face of a young girl popped up.

"Johto Elite Four, how can I help you?"

"This is Red, what does Bruno's schedule look like?"

The girl's eyes visibly widened, "Oh my gosh. It's you! Um…"

The clicks of keys on a computer could be heard as she tapped away at one offscreen.

"There aren't any Gym Leader Castle challengers until after Round 5, so Bruno is more free than usual, but I don't think he'll take too kindly to a last minute addition to his calendar.'

Red nodded, "Completely understandable. Tell him I want to spar the day after tomorrow."

The Elite Four secretary nodded again, "I'll be happy to! Anything else I can help you with?"

"No m'am," Red tipped his hat, "Enjoy your evening."

"Thanks Mister Red, um… you too."

As if on cue, Green appeared, "I just gave you a little bit of everything,"

Red stood up, kissing Green on the cheek.

"You know me too well. Whaddya think we should do tomorrow?"

Green raised an eyebrow, "Don't you have a plan?"

"I do, but that's not gonna kick off until the day after tomorrow."

"Oh, okay," Green said, yawning, "I feel like I've been running around a lot lately, I was thinking a day in would be nice."

"Sounds good to me!" agreed Red.

With that, the two began to silently eat their kabobs, their hands intertwined.

Cloud

"So then he said, 'You play Castlevania games," Snake finished his tale.

Even Cloud, who was lost in his own thoughts, couldn't help but look up at that. The rest of Snake's audience, Sonic, Isabelle, and the Belmonts were similarly enthralled.

"What manner of unholy magic was at play?" Simon asked.

Ritcher rolled his eyes, "It's a shock to you that our universes are intertwined? You and Alucard got sent on a mission with Ryu while everything was getting set up."

"But this Psycho Mantis character knew that inherently, without any kind of assistance."

"Yet, it still shocks you that people know that inherently, with all else we know?"

Sonic laughed, "You think you guys had it bad? I started out as a keychain in someone's car, and then I've fought alongside everyone from Hello Kitty to Kenshiro from Fist of the North Star."

Snake chuckled, "I'm still not recovered from the hearing damage Otacon gave me when you said that."

"Wait," Isabelle said skeptically, "You've worked with the Hello Kitty?"

"Yeah!" Sonic said nonchalantly, "Me and Pacman both. I think Pacman's on the interdimensional arcade on their way to get them now."

"Interdimensional arcade?" Snake asked.

"Yeah, apparently Pacman can travel the dimensions freely on a ship… arcade…thing." Sonic fumbled over the words.

"And he's picking up your friends?" Snake asked

"Yeah, for Smashcraft R. Real top secret stuff, ya know?" Sonic whispered.

"What about you Cloud?" Isabelle asked, "Surely you've met some people."

Cloud said, "I have but…that's the furthest thing from my mind now,"

To this, Sonic laughed, "C'mon man, it's just Sephiroth. You've fought him a million times."

"And it doesn't get any easier," Cloud huffed, "All it does is open old wounds."

Cloud stood up to walk away. Instinctively, Sonic stood up to follow, only to be clasped on the shoulder by Snake.

"Let him go. Internal wars like this don't get any easier."

"Aye," Simon nodded.

After a few beats of uncomfortable silence, Isabelle spoke up, "So…um…don't we still owe the Pacmans a double date!"

"We do!" Sonic nodded, "I'll hit him up when he gets back."

Meanwhile, Cloud had ascended the stairs when a familiar, trumpeting theme played on his communicator. Sighing, he pushed 'accept call' on the holographic screen. A familiar smiling face appeared before him.

"Hey Cloud, this is Sora…"

"I know who it is kid," Cloud sighed again, "What do you want?"

"I'm itching for a sparring sesh outside of my usual crew,"

"And you think you're my best sparring partner?" Cloud finished, "Do you know how many times I get challenged by fanboy yahoos, especially here?"

"Unlike those people," Sora smirked, "I've beaten Sephiroth before. As many times as you have as a matter of fact."

Cloud pondered the boy's words.

"You do have a point," Cloud admitted, "I have another appointment tomorrow and the day after that , after that I can actually shuffle some stuff around. Where should we train?"

"We've got a whole room for it here, and I bet the boss will be happy to see you."

Cloud grinned, "And I'll be happy to finally meet the boss. See you in three days?"

"It's a date," Sora said with a nod.

The call terminated immediately after that.

I'll have to talk to Tifa about that, Cloud thought as he continued his way up the grand staircase, She'll be happy to see the old mouse.

Sephiroth

For the first time since he'd been here, Sephiroth felt his peace being disturbed.

It wasn't just the hastily erected set of holiday lights glowing behind him, disturbing his view of the starry sky. It wasn't just the impending threat of Conker.

No, reasoned the warrior, it was Cloud.

Is this what humans call anxiety? he wondered.

He'd fought Cloud several times across many different worlds, but something about this felt…final? The changes to the world once Conker got bored of their tournament would be so cataclysmic that it couldn't be comprehended. If he lost here, would he ever fight Cloud again? Would that be the one blemish on an otherwise flawlessly executed path in life, and would it be there forever?

"And there's Sephiroth! Say hi Sephy!"

Sephiroth's gaze snapped to the ground below. Terry held an enormous video camera, Corrin following eagerly behind.

"Who dares disturb my peace?" demanded Sephiroth.

"Me, ya big silly!" Terry chided, "Thought I'd start recording some stuff since most of my buds here are out of the tournament."

"And you would describe me as a 'bud?'" sneered Sephiroth.

"Well, you're here ain't ya? That means you're somebody I'm gonna be back to back with in a war, so of course you're a bud."

Sephiroth's sneer deepened. He'd isolated himself specifically to avoid this.

"We've got you on camera, so at least attempt to be happy," Corrin ordered.

"No,"

"Ya know Corrin," Terry said, "You took to the whole camera thing pretty easy."

"What do you take me for, daft?" Corrin snapped, "Sir Falcon was nice enough to show us all how they worked last tournament. It's just that I've never seen one so big."

"That's what she said!" declared Terry.

Corrin rolled her eyes, "Sir Higashi informing you of that 'Office' show will be a mistake that lives in infamy."

"Be glad you got Micheal Scott on your arm, and not Dwight Schrute up there."

"Point that thing away from me," demanded Sephiroth.

"HEY! C'MON C'MON!" Terry shouted, "Don't diss the greatness that is the Panasonic Omnimovie!"

"Terry, darling," Corrin said, "I suggest we get more interesting footage. Someone is using the game room and having fun I'm sure."

"OKAY!" Terry barked, "And if there ain't it'll be me! And you'll hold the camera."

Corrin's eyes widened, "Do you believe I'm truly ready to wield the Panasonic Omnimovie?"

Terry nodded, "As sure as I am that the Wonderball has a prize inside!"

Sephiroth closed his eyes, briefly imagining a world in which all capitalism died by the blade of Masamune. Luckily, in the time it had taken him to disassociate, the two had gleefully marched inside. But their absence brought him no peace. He sighed, his thoughts pushed towards the inevitable.

This isn't the last time I'm going to be bothered by those two