A/N: Hope you enjoy this chapter! I don't own SSB.
Chapter 71: Trust Issues
9:00 P.M.
Inside the Labyrinth
Mikoru carefully applied his blemish control apricot scrub to prevent any blemishes on his face while staring at the mirror. He was extremely tired just waiting for someone to fight him. He expected at least Ike and his buddies to have a showdown, but time went by so fast, it was almost his bedtime.
Mikoru then rinsed his face for a few minutes and turned off the faucet. He then tightened the belt of his black, cotton robe while giving it a slight tug. "It's about time I should get some sleep. I waited hours for a fight! Those fools are taking forever. . ." Mikoru sighed and left his bathroom and flopped on the king's bed. "I had to skip dinner because of them. . ." Mikoru got up and remembered to put on a face mask before he went to bed.
As he was doing so, the dark prince heard his bedroom door slamming open which startled him completely. Mikoru didn't expect anyone to come at this hour unless someone was here to get his head. Mikoru ran out of the bathroom once more and gasped quietly.
"Oh, so you came. . ." Mikoru muttered under his head.
"*HUFF* *HUFF*" The sweaty mercenary slammed the door shut and collapsed on the floor. "Mi- *HUFF* *HUFF* -Mikoru. . ."
"What?" Mikoru said. "Why do you sound like a dying squirrel? You're pathetic."
"Water. . . give me- *HEAVE* *HOO* -water. . ." Ike demanded at his dying breath.
Mikoru eyed him oddly, as he grabbed a glass of water that was on his night stall. He walked up to him and shot the water at him. The mercenary was drenched with not only sweat, but water.
"Still thirsty?" Mikoru smirked.
"What the hell? You bastard. . ." Ike glared up at him. Ike didn't do anything because he was dead tired.
"It's your fault for being so dumb. . ." Mikoru then grabbed a water bottle that wasn't open and threw it to him. Ike caught it and chugged it down once he removed the cap.
Eventually, Ike was able to catch his breath. He sat on a small sofa that the bedroom had to offer. Mikoru wore his original dark princely outfit with the facemask still on his face, as he sat right across from Ike.
"You know, I've been waiting for you. . ." Mikoru spoke.
"What the heck is on your face?" Ike went off topic immediately.
Mikoru gently placed his fingers on his black facemask. "Haven't you heard of a face mask? Jeez, I waited so long! Just when I was about to get my sleep." Mikoru forcefully removed the mask without any leftover parts on his face.
Ike was quite amazed, but then got serious because he had to look "manly". "Where's Makato?"
"Makato?"
"Come on, don't act dumb!"
Mikoru shrugged. "I don't know. She escaped from my castle. . ."
"Wait, what?" Ike was dumbfounded from Mikoru's answer. "Don't try lying to me! I'll beat you up if I have to!" Ike grabbed his sword and pointed it at Mikoru's pale skin.
Mikoru leaned back from the tip of Ike's sword. "Hah! Pul-lease! I've gotten stronger, I make bloody moves." Mikoru scoffed.
"Don't get comfortable." Ike spoke back at him.
"Look," Mikoru smirked as he slowly slipped his body off the couch till he was standing head to head with Ike. "I don't dance now, I make money moves." Mikoru summoned his sword and did a little twirl after receiving his poisonous weapon.
"Say I don't gotta dance, I make money moves." Ike didn't even more a finger.
". . ." Mikoru stared at him and Ike stared back.
". . ." Ike's stomach went off like a fire alarm. "You better have food. I refuse to fight on an empty stomach."
"What are you, twelve?" Mikoru sighed, "I am hungry myself. . . I was thinking Chinese food."
"Oh, that sounds good. . ." Ike started to drool from the thought of it.
"Yea. . ." Mikoru looked at him with disgust before picking on the phone from the wall. "Make a Chinese platter on the double."
"Yes, Lord Mikoru!" The chefs responded back on the phone.
Within an hour, the feast of noodles, sweet sour pork, orange chicken, egg rolls, and many msg foods were prepared. They both ate peacefully with their stomachs doing the talking for them.
(oOoOoOo)
"I'm scared. . . I'm cold. . . It's been hours since I've been here. . . I'm so hungry. . . Orange chicken with a side of chow mein and egg rolls sounds so good right now. . ." Roy shivered himself tightly into a ball form. The place he was in was very dark and timid and unknown. He felt like a mouse in a dark cage for lab testing. The only memory that kept repeating into his mind was when Ike threw him into a door that gave him a slight concussion. When he woke up, he found himself in a tight spot. There wasn't an exit nor an entrance.
"He's gonna pay. . ." Roy gritted his teeth out of anger. "I'm gonna make sure he doesn't get what he wants. . .!" Roy slammed his fist on the cold ground that echoed from the outside. After a little motivation, Roy decided to get up from his spot to figure out where or what he was in.
He placed his hands on the wall that were extremely cold. Roy grabbed his sword and tried slicing the rocky wall. Not much damage occurred to the wall.
"Damnit!" Roy attempted to do another strike, but this time his blade grew extremely hot that wings of fire grew from the tip of his blade. Roy swung his sword down with everything he had and shattered the thick stone wall.
"I. . . I did it. . . I really. . . did it. . .!" His sword gently slipped from his fingers and struck the ground, echoing loudly. "Yes! I'm free! Yipee!" Roy ran out of the room and jumped so high that he was able to click his feet together. After some time of rejoicing, Roy checked his surroundings of the place he was now in.
"This place looks like an underground cave. . ." Roy spotted a couple of candles that were lit up on the walls. A water drop splashed on Roy's armor that ricochet off. He looked up and saw a couple of bats with haunted red eyes, staring deep into his soul. Roy gulped and looked back down even if making no eye contact with the bats wouldn't make any difference that they were watching the young man.
"I wonder if the others are alright. . ." Roy thought out loud, trying to make himself less nervous. "Especially Haru. . . and Flora . . ." He continued to walk in silence. The sounds of dripping water scared him more than just the mysterious noises he heard every ten seconds. "Oh! M-maybe I should sing a song to kill the silence! SOOOOMEBODY ONCE TOLD ME-!"
Roy stopped singing when he saw a girl against the wall. He looked closely and knew without any doubt that was Flora.
"Huh?! Flora! Thank God I'm not alone!" Roy cried tears of joy and ran to the female warrior. He crouched down and noticed she wasn't responding regardless of his loud, obnoxious voice.
"Wow, even tsunderes can sleep cutely. . ." Roy stared at Flora's blonde streaks of hair. "She must been tired, maybe I'll sleep right next to her. . ." Roy did his best fake yawn and stretch. "I'm kinda tired myself."
GROWL
"Hmm?" Roy turned around and saw a yellow fox-like animal, with glowing red eyes and razor sharp teeth, glaring at Roy.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Roy screamed and ran behind Flora's lifeless body. "Don't eat me! Eat her!" The animal roared at him which made Roy ditch Flora's body just in case it wanted to eat them up alive. Roy watched the animal walking near Flora as if it was guarding her.
"You dare come close to my body?!" The animal angrily spoke. Roy was immediately dumbfounded when it talked, but at the same time, they had talking Pokemons and a Kirby so. . .
"Whoa, it can talk! Wait, what you do mean your body?" Roy eyed the animal suspiciously.
It's large ears relaxed between its front arms, "Listen carefully what I'm about to say!" The animal spoke and looked at Flora. "It was hours ago. . ."
Flashback
Flora's POV
After I fell here, the best choice for me was to look for an exit from this smelly cave.
"I don't have time for this!" I shouted, stomping around the area.
Just then, a cute, yellow fox stumbled upon my path. It was quite adorable when the fox started eating a piece of fruit.
"Adorable. . . really. . ." I rarely smiled, but the animal sure made me. When I made eye contact with the yellow fox, its red eyes started glowing. Before I knew it, I was trapped inside this animal's body. Our minds were switched. It felt weird to see myself from a low point of view.
"AHH! Change me back!" I didn't know my powers were also transferred to my mind. I zapped the animal with my lightning powers and kinda knocked myself out.
"Shit. . ."
End of Flashback
Normal POV
"Until the creature wakes up, I shall wait to get my body back. I've been guarding my body from bats and cave dwellers. Ugh, so annoying. . ."
"Wow, just by eye contact alone, your bodies were switched." Roy listened carefully.
Flora nodded. "Yes, so you better stay away from me!" Flora hissed at him, referring to her orginal body that Roy must stay away from.
"Yes ma'am!" Roy sat in the other side of yellow fox and sat on the ground with his legs criss-crossed.
Flora turned her ears to Roy before she turned her head. "Roy, was it? Why are you down here?"
Roy didn't want to have those traumatizing flashbacks. He cracked a smile and let out a laugh. "Heh, I was betrayed by own my friend. I rather not talk about the details. . ."
". . ."
"I hate him so much, but it hurts when you're just a useless tool all along." Roy felt tears coming from his eyes and cursed. "Shit, why am I crying?"
Flora was actually shocked to hear what Roy had just said. Her ears lowered, as a sign of sadness. She walked up to Roy and sat between his legs.
"What are you-" Roy was interrupted by an electric shock that luckily didn't knocked him out.
"Shut up."
"-Yes ma'am." Roy cried mentally from the pain. Awkward silence increased by the time, and Roy was a bit flustered from Flora's action. He kept waiting patiently for Flora to say something.
"You're not a useless tool," Flora started, "if you were, I would have killed you a long time ago. And also, you wouldn't even care about my sister. Remember that."
'Even in animal form, she's trying to cheer me up! Tsundere at its finest!' Roy kinda hesitated to put place his hand on her head. He placed a few fingers first, making Flora flinch. Roy didn't hesitate any further and petted her head, brushing the soft, yellow fur between his fingers. "Thank you. . ."
Roy felt the yellow fur getting warmer and he silently snickered to himself that she was blushing.
"Soooomebody-"
"Dont. You. Dare." Miniature electric sparks shot like fireworks from Flora's animal body. Roy zipped his lips and nodded eagerly.
(oOoOoOo)
"I'm gonna rip his brains out and use it to feed his-" Marth was busy ranting in the dark cave with a few bruises from the fall. "I'll kill him, then I'll boil him in his blood. . . why do I smell sweet sour pork?"
"Marth!" A deep voice was hyped about his presence. Marth turned to the voice beside him and saw Makato's older brother from the distance.
"Haruka!"
"It's Haruhi!"
"Haruhi!" Marth gasped.
"Yay! I'm not alone!" Haru ran up to him and wrapped his buff arm over Marth's slim shoulders. "How did you end up here anyway?"
"Ike. . ." Marth answered.
Haru loosed his arm away from Marth and placed his hands on his hips. "Wait, Ike?"
"What I just said!" Marth was about to snap. He sighed as he pressed his nose with his fingers. "He's the one who got Roy and I down here in the first place."
"You failed a trivia question?" Haru asked, staring at him with a shocked look.
"Didn't you hear what I just said?! Unlike Ike, I know my math!" Marth lashed out.
"Hmm. . ." Haru rubbed his invisible hair on his chin. "He probably has a reason."
Marth chuckled quietly to himself. "A reason? You've got to be joking. . ."
Haru shook his head. "No, I'm being serious for once. Maybe he didn't want you guys in danger. You and Roy." Haru eyed the prince. "Don't you trust in your friends? I bet he's busy fighting Mikoru as we speak."
'He's right. . .' Marth stared at him unwillingly and sighed. 'All this time, I've been doubting Ike. . . my own friend who stuck up by my side from the good and bad times. . . . Most of them were the bad times. Like when I was blamed for destroying Kirby's macaroni art, Ike defended me and said he was the one who did it and blamed me. . . But it worked out in the end because I was able to drown him for quite some time. . .' Marth closed his eyes to get into his inner spiritual self. 'Ok, Ike. Make me believe in you. Make me believe what you did to us. . . had a purpose.'
"Ok, if you're done being in the spirit realm, let's go find an exit." Haru slapped his back hard. Marth flinched from the pain and sighed.
"Of course." Marth followed Haru to look for the exit of this unknown cave.
(oOoOoOo)
Sonic and Kirby were wandering down the thick, dark forest with minor demons and witches that passed by or just straight up attack the two of them, however they were basically the ultimate team. Any monster were literally swallowed up by Kirby within seconds, so Sonic was able to protect the Golden Flower Goddess. She was basically the best light source within the dark and starry night. She was a walking flashlight which can burn most of the demons that stare at her radiance.
As they were walking, Sonic couldn't help but to think about Ike's strange answers he gave to him when they saw him at the front of the labyrinth.
Flashback
"Need a hand?" Sonic spotted Ike in front of the labyrinth, and he looked stressed out asf.
Ike recognized the voice immediately and turned his head around to see Sonic and Kirby with a mythical being behind him.
"Oh, Sonic and hellspawn. . ." The mercenary looked up to see the giant woman staring at him. "What's that?"
"The Golden Flower Goddess," Sonic said. "We can use her and defeat Mikoru for good."
"About that. . ." Ike shook his head and patted Sonic's back. "Mikoru's not here. I've been into the castle already. He fooled us all."
"Wait, what do you mean he's not here? Speaking about here, where are the others?" Sonic remember the others following along.
"I got. . . No clue. . ." Ike trailed and shook his head.
"Bummer. . ." Sonic sighed.
"Yea, we got separated so. . ." Ike sighed and crossed his arms. Kirby shrugged and burped from his leftover meal.
"You guys can keep searching somewhere else. Look for Mikoru. I'm going to look for the others. . ." Ike said.
"Um, okay. Let's go, Kirby." Sonic turned the other way while Kirby followed.
End of Flashback
"If Mikoru's not in the castle. . . ." Sonic sat down on a dried up, large log that laid on the ground. "Where could he be?"
"I don't care. . . I'm just remembering the fact that Marth destroyed my macaroni art. . ." Kirby grumbled.
"DO YOU USE VELVEETA OR A NICE, HOMEMADE BECHAMEL CHEESE SAUCE?" The Golden Flower Goddess asked curiously. Kirby shook his head, denying both answers.
"THEN. . . WHAT DO YOU USE TO MAKE THE MACARONI AND CHEESE?" She then asked.
"I use single serve plastic cheese and microwave it till it turns all bubbly and gooey! And then I put my macaroni noodles in it and eat it!" Kirby cheered.
The GFG covered her mouth even when she couldn't vomit in the first place. "THAT. . . IS. . ."
"CHEESY GOODNESS EXTRAVAGANZA GOODNESS CHEESY! RIGHT?!"
"QUITE. . ." The GFG sweat dropped and looked the other way.
"We don't know where Mikoru is. We don't know where Makato is. Now, Ike said the others are missing? What's going on?" Sonic looked up at the night sky. "It's so dark and I don't think we should rest until Makato is alright."
"Yea, I don't feel like sleeping either. . . I want to throw a late night party once we're done with this shit." Kirby agreed with Sonic.
Sonic faced his head up to the Goddess, as she stared into space. "Hey, so how do we use you?"
"MY POWER IS SHORT AND CERTAIN. I MUST BE WITHIN THE TARGET OF MY ENEMY TO BANISH THEIR EVIL POWERS FOR THE REST OF THEIR LIVES."
"Well, isn't that great?" Sonic sarcastically said, as he placed his hand under his face. "Don't you have like any far ranged powers?"
"I HAVE GOLDEN FLOWERS." She replied. She presented a ring of golden flowers that magically appeared behind her. Kirby and Sonic were amazed.
"What do they do?" Sonic's eyes lit up.
"THEY BRING BLESSINGS. . ."
"I see. . ." Sonic answered.
"What kind of blessings?" Kirby asked curiously.
"THE KIND BLESSINGS THAT WON'T GET YOU KILLED."
"Well. . . isn't that great?" Sonic rubbed the back of his quills. "I'm starting to get hungry. . ." Sonic then murmured at the end.
"What do you mean?! There's food everywhere!" Kirby spread his chubby arms wide.
Sonic shook his head. "Kirby, nobody eats demons like yourself."
(oOoOoOo)
As Marth and Haru were wandering around the cave, Haru was able to find a little miniature, shatterproof window that only showed the table legs of the mansion.
"Hey, Marth! Come here! I found a window!" Haru turned to his back and motioned him to come. Marth turned around and quickly made his way to him.
"A window?"
"Yea! Check it out!" Haru gave some room for Marth to crouch beside him. The window was very dirty and it looked like it hadn't been cleaned in months. They kept staring at it, hoping to see some legs.
"It's hard to see. . . " Haru complained a little.
"Maybe Ike's here. . ." Marth only hoped. Afterall, he just gave his trust to him.
"Oh!" Marth gasped, after staring into space for a short period of time, " I see Ike's legs!"
"Legs, legs, what's on the menu?!" Haru grinned. Another pair of legs entered next to Ike. Marth only assumed they were duking it out.
"They must be doing some kind of intense battling!" Marth exclaimed excitedly. "I'll forgive him this time if he defeats Mikoru. Ike you've got to be the victor!"
The legs were moving in various ways that looked like two men dancing. Marth and Haru were only able to see the legs and not the rest of the body. Marth recognized that kind of dance of the feet and he was already convinced that Ike and Mikoru were fighting to the death. From the sounds of heavy breathing that the prince was able to listen very closely, to the faint sounds of battle cries. Marth watched carefully at his friend's feet, moving all over the place.
"Is there a way to break this?" Haru thought as he poked the glass.
"It says shatterproof on the bottom corner, but that's beside the point." Marth answered with his eyes glued onto Ike's legs. "We must find an exit soon as possible and help him."
"Good idea." Haru said.
Marth was about to get up from his crouching position, but stopped when both of their feet stopped. He went back to watching the battle that suddenly stopped.
"Who won?" Marth wondered. They waited and did their best to hear their words.
"Hahahaha! I win!" It sounded like Mikoru's voice that reigned victorious. Marth's grin slowly faded away.
"Wait, he lost?" Marth was shocked.
"Damnit! I'll get you next time!" Ike's voice sounded very alive and well.
"'I'll get you next time'? What does that mean? Is Ike alive?" Haru thought outloud.
"I don't know. . ." Marth kept focus on their legs, hoping he didn't miss any strange clues.
There was a lot of noises that started to occur inside the mansion. Marth leaned in closer for a better view and for a better hearing. His eyes caught a strange colored polka-dotted mat on the floor, for which Ike's legs were right next to it. Haru leaned in closer as well and recognized the mat.
"Whoa, I've never played Twister before!" Haru gleamed at the mat.
Marth's eyes widened as he turned to Haru. "Twister?"
"Yea, you like spin a color and you either have to put your foot or hand-"
"I know! I know what it is!" Marth shouted. The prince started to feel anger in his whole body. Marth didn't want to believe that watching Ike and Mikoru's battle was just a childish game of Twister. Marth didn't want to believe it at all.
"Maybe it's a magic circle or something." Marth shook his head in denial.
"Ha! Magic circles that have the word Twister right there?!" Haru laughed as he pointed the word on the white mat.
"Truth be told, this is my first time playing it." Mikoru said.
"YOU NEVER PLAYED TWISTER BEFORE?!" Ike's voice clearly shouted across the shatterproof glass. Marth almost choked on his air when Ike's voice was heard loud and clear about Twister.
"Let's bet on Makato. . . how about it?" Mikoru was sly within the kind of situation they were act.
"You're on!" Ike agreed without knowing the consequences.
"Twister. . .?" Marth's shallow head repeated the word Twister all over again.
"All of this. . . " Haruhi was sounded now serious. "All of this time. . . they were duking it out on a kid's game?! Those bastards!" Haru's hot flames spewed from his entire body like a wildfire. "I thought I could trust this hoe!"
Marth sighed and placed his hand on Haru's flaming shoulder. Even when he did that, Marth's hand were ice cold that were connected to his emotions. "Onii-sama,"
Haruhi glanced at Marth angrily, not really trying his best to calm down.
"Don't worry. Please, don't take your anger out on him and allow me to do it for you." Marth's eyes lost all hope and sanity. His grin was like Barney going to a strip club on a Tuesday night. Haru dropped the anger act and stood silent.
Marth's eyes squinted even tighter. The pupil of his eyes were glowing only revenge and death. "He's my friend that I so put my trust in him. Allow me. . ."
Haru eyed him and noticed a strange aura that glowed even scarier than Haru's flames.
'Why do I get the feeling he's even more pissed than me?' Haru sweat dropped. 'Is it because he's speaking in bold?'
"Now then," Marth slowly got up on his feet, as he drew his sword at such speed lightning. "Let's find the long way out. I don't want to ruin their fun. . ."
(oOoOoOo)
"Uh. . ." Miru just now got on his two feet. He was rather confused of his current location that he was in. ". . .Where am I? Who am I? Why am I here?" Miru felt a rather large bump on the back of his head. "Oww. . . Since when did I get such a huge bump. I need to get that check to the doctor. . ."
