Lucina was feeling confident as she walked along the shoreline of the beach with Marth and Corrin. She had just agreed to a friendly match of a game that Peach and her fellow princesses, Daisy and Rosalina suggested she join in on. Lucina thought it would be a nice way to relax and have fun after what had been a boring to start to the day (with there being no scheduled battles for any of the Smashers, a lack of excitement came about). Even her good friends from Smash Mansion, who were also going to the beach to enjoy the nice summer day, agreed to it as well.
Corrin cast a worried glance at Lucina as they walked along. He could sense confidence in her stride and the smile on her face. He admired her courage no matter what was going on, whether it was big or small, but he also felt a twinge of doubt. "Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked her softly. "I know for a fact that the princesses are not to be underestimated when it comes to sports. You know about all the medals they got in those different sports throughout the years. The same goes for Mario and Luigi, too."
Lucina turned to him and flashed him a reassuring smile. She shrugged her shoulders lightly and said, "How serious can this possibly be? It's just a game of beach ball. That's all. There's absolutely nothing to worry about, Corrin."
Marth, who was walking beside them, nodded in agreement. He looked at Lucina with pride and admiration. He had taken her under his wing when she joined Smash, and he had seen her grow into a formidable fighter. "Besides," he said, "You're talking to Lucian here. She's without a doubt one of the best swordfighters in the tournament. I'm sure she can handle a simple ball."
Lucina felt a warm flush on her cheeks at Marth's compliment. She was grateful to have him as her mentor and friend. He had taught her a lot about fighting and Smash. "Thanks, Marth." She said sincerely. "But you and Corrin are also great fighters."
They continued strolling as the sounds of the water splish-splashing against the shores carried on. Lucina turned her head to the side and saw Peach waving over at her from a distance. She was wearing a pink bikini that matched her hair and crown. She looked like a picture of elegance and grace. Daisy was next to her wearing a yellow bikini with orange flowers, bright like a burst of sunshine and energy, and behind the two of them was Rosalina in her new blue summer dress.
"Hi there!" Peach greeted them cheerfully.
Lucina nodded politely. "Hello, Princess Peach." she replied.
Running up to greet her was her good friend Zelda, who appeared to be in a very jovial mood this afternoon. "Are you ready for some fun?" she asked her as she walked up to where she stood.
A couple steps away was Lucina's other friend Samus. She adjusted her hair back into a ponytail before she nodded back at Peach. "Ready," she chimed in on the others' behalf, though it was obvious that all of them were equally ready to enjoy themselves.
Peach smiled and gestured to a large beach ball that was lying delicately on the golden sand. It was red with white stars on it, like a festive decoration for a party.
"This is our beach ball." She said. "It's very special."
Lucina looked at the ball curiously. It seemed like an ordinary beach ball to her.
And why such emphasis on that? She thought silently to herself. That's quite strange, if I'm being honest...
"What's so special about it?" Lucina dared to ask, her curiosity getting the best of her. Then again, anybody would have had the urge to ask that had they heard such a peculiar remark out of the blue. It looked like the ordinary ball you played with at the beach, after all. Nothing more and nothing less.
Peach just winked at her mysteriously. "You'll see soon enough," she said with a delicate chuckle.
She tossed the ball to Daisy, who caught it with a grin. She then turned to Lucina and her team and said, "Are you ready to lose?"
Lucina raised an eyebrow. She was surprised by Daisy's little taunt just then. She had always thought that Daisy was a friendly and cheerful kind of person, but she just shrugged it off and thought it was nothing. "We'll see about that," she said calmly.
"Alrighty then..." Daisy smirked and threw the ball high into the air. "Let the game begin!" she then proclaimed in a bubbly tone of voice.
The game was on. Lucina and her team quickly got into position. They faced their opponents across the net, which was made of ropes and poles. The net divided their little slice of the beach into two halves, some pieces of driftwood and abandoned seashells being the only things that marked the boundaries of where their game could take place within.
The ball came down towards Lucina's side of the net. She jumped up and hit it with her fist, sending it back to Daisy's side. Daisy reacted quickly and hit it back with her foot, making it spin in the air. Zelda intercepted it and passed it to Samus, who spiked it over the net.
Rosalina was ready for it. She used her magic wand to levitate the ball and guide it to Peach, who smashed it with her head. The ball flew towards the other "team" with great speed and force. Lucina saw the ball coming and braced herself. She knew she had to stop it or else they would lose a point.
She reached out her hand and hit the ball with her palm, sending it back to Peach's side. She hoped that maybe this would be enough to score her a point. As soon as she spiked the ball to send it across the net, however, something unexpectedly happened.
The ball seemed to explode with a loud bang and a bright flash of light that caught her off guard. Lucina felt a small shockwave push her and her two friends back, feeling like a punch from a giant. She stumbled and fell on the sand before Zelda helped her pick herself back up, and she brushed herself before looking at the ball in disbelief.
It was no longer some ordinary-looking beach ball.
She now saw that it was a Smash Ball, that familiar object that floated its way around stages during many matches she participated in. And at the moment, it was weightlessly levitating away from where she stood over to the three princesses.
The swordfighter realized that Peach and her team had tricked her with this. Although she was uncertain exactly how they managed to do it, they had successfully disguised a Smash Ball.
And judging by how things were suddenly shifting, it seemed they were about to use this to their advantage, the friendly game turning into a little more of a serious match.
But why would they do that? she wondered.
Daisy saw the ball coming and backed up a bit. She then did a stylish kick, spinning in the air and hitting the ball with her heel like a graceful dancer performing a pirouette. She sent the ball in Peach's direction with precision and power, as if this had been something she was secretly talented at doing among the other things she surprised the Smashers with over the years.
Peach caught the ball in her hand and squeezed it hard. She felt a surge of power rush over her as the ball broke and she glowed with the light that would shine whenever a fighter was lucky enough to get their hands on a Smash Ball during the tournament.
"Oh dear..." Lucina muttered under her breath as she looked in front of her.
"Sorry, Lucina, but we did say that we were using a special kind of beach ball..."
Some Time Later...
Lucina squinted her eyes as the sunlight beamed down on her face. She sat up from her beach towel before looking over at her friends with a sigh.
Zelda and Samus sat silently underneath their umbrellas, one looking out at the waves of the ocean and the other enjoying an ice cream cone.
Lucina put her hands behind her head and put her sunglasses over her eyes before closing them again. The game that she first thought was going to be something leisurely had made her exhausted, and it wasn't just her that was surprised by what happened either.
Lucina wondered once again how those three princesses managed to pull that off. She could hear the sounds of footsteps shuffling in the sand approaching her. She opened her eyes again and turned to her side to see Peach, Daisy, and Rosalina walking towards her. They looked like they had just enjoyed a relaxing day at the beach, as if what happened earlier never did.
They had won the game of beach ball and they had won easily.
Peach smiled and said, "Hi there! How are you all doing?"
As trivial it was, Lucina felt a surge of resentment. She wanted to say something sarcastic in response to her question, but she didn't. She knew that was just a silly thing to do. She knew, at the end of today when the sun went down and all was said and done, it was just a game of beach ball.
"Hello, Peach. We're fine," she replied politely.
Peach nodded and said, "That's good to hear. We're sorry about earlier. We just wanted to have some fun."
Lucina bit her lip and said, "Fun? Is that what you call using a Smash Ball as a beach ball and using those other tricks you had up your sleeve?"
Peach tilted her head and said, "Well, yes. It was fun for us. And we thought it would be fun for you too."
Lucina sighed. "We also like fair play. And what you did was not exactly what you'd call fair."
Daisy chimed in and said, "Oh, come on, Lucina. It was just a prank. A harmless prank."
The swordfighter glared back at her. "I suppose so..."
The princess in yellow shrugged and said, "We even brought you some water and snacks if you'd like them."
Lucina looked at the water bottles and sandwiches that were on a tray next to them. She had to admit that they looked tempting, but she was not in the mood to eat or drink anything from her right now.
She said, "Thanks, but no thanks. I'm not hungry or thirsty."
Rosalina spoke up and said, "Please don't be mad at us, Lucina. We just wanted to spice up the game a little bit."
Lucina replied, "Spice up the game? Is that why you used your magic wand to manipulate the ball?"
A nod was what she received in response to her remark. "Yes. It was part of our plan. We thought it would be more interesting if the ball had some... surprises."
The swordfighter shook her head and said, "More interesting for who? For you or for us?"
Rosalina paused as if contemplating what to say to her. "For both of us?" Her words came out as if she were responding with another question then with an actual answer.
Lucina snorted and said, "Yeah, right. For both of us."
She sat back up and looked back over her shoulder. Over by where they had played was a bunch of peaches laying around on the sand, all of which got there thanks to Peach using her Final Smash outside of a battle to win her little game of beach ball when she made them rain down.
"Hey there, Lucina!" called out a familiar voice, coming from Marth as he strolled down the beach. He turned his head to the side and saw the look on her face that told him right away something was the matter. "What's going on?"
Lucina sighed and sagged her head for a brief moment before she looked back at him. "Well, Marth, let's just say Corrin was right about that game..."
Author's Note: I'M BACK, EVERYBODY! :D
So, I ended up being away from writing anything for a lot longer than I expected. The last time I wrote anything that was about the Smashers was literally around Halloween of last year, and even then, that story, like a couple of these ones I've done in the past, was definitely on weirder side of things. I had so many nice ideas that have been buzzing around in my head since then, but once again real life got in the way and I ended up becoming busier with other things, even though I promised I wouldn't be on too long of a hiatus. That didn't exactly plan out, did it?
*sigh* Well, it's officially summertime now and that means it's the perfect opportunity to write some fun stories like this one. I might do a couple more that take place in a tropical or beach setting like this in the future. There's something about the beach that's just so much fun, no matter what characters the story's centered around.
Anyway, let me know what your thoughts were on this. I haven't been writing for quite some time, so I know this is probably a little bit rusty and/or nonsensical if I'm being honest. But any thoughts, whether they're good or bad, are always gladly appreciated.
'Til next time, everyone! :)