Author's Note: All right! We've got another chapter! First of all, thank you to everyone who read, followed, and reviewed on the last one! This time, we've got Link and Captain Falcon! One more thing I'd like to briefly mention is that new chapters for this fic are written when I have inspiration for something new. If you'd like to see a particular character in this, that's wonderful, but please realize that I may not have the inspiration for a chapter featuring that character at the moment. That being said, I would like to eventually feature every single character at some point. With that out of the way, let's get started!
It was a rainy day at Smash Mansion. Not a light misting or a scattered shower, but a steady, continuous rain that quickly drenched any who dared to venture forth without an umbrella. Not that anyone really wanted to, as the sky was engulfed with a gloomy blanket of grey clouds. Most of the Smashers were indoors, doing indoor things. Peach, Palutena, Sheik and Rosalina were watching soap operas in the media room. The kid smashers were playing video games and Mario and Luigi were down in the gym sparring with the other fist fighters in a round robin tournament. Ike had challenged Cloud to a friendly duel out of boredom and several of the other sword users had gone to watch.
Link had not gone with them. A rainy day was a chance for him to enjoy another aspect of the outdoors. Which was why he was sitting on the back porch of the mansion under the balcony as the rain pattered just a few inches from his feet. Thankfully a few of the lawn chairs had been left out of the weather, and a warm mug of tea sat next to him on the ground, its fragrant scent mixing with the smell of the wet grass and fresh rain. It was a nice warming drink to counterbalance the chill of the damp breeze. Faintly, he could hear the wind chimes from Palutena's balcony.
The scene in front of him was a thoroughly drenched one. The umbrellas and other beach chairs were all dripping wet as more precipitation continued to fall. The brick pavement of the patio was a few shades darker than usual and somewhat slick, though the drainage system was successfully preventing any puddles from forming. The raindrops splashed as they hit the water in the pool, sending small droplets into the air, a mix of chlorinated pool water and fresh rainwater.
Link turned back to his bow, on which he'd been performing maintenance. He was almost done. He reached for the new bowstring, and with one swift motion, strung it. He looked over his bow, satisfied with his work. It was a Rito made bow, a gift from his friend Teba. It hadn't failed him yet, and Link had intended to keep it that way. He made his way back to the door and stepped inside to carefully lean his bow against the wall. There was no need to get his weapon wet. Link turned around, resumed his place in the lawn chair and took a deep sigh of contentment.
Some people disliked the rain. It was cold and wet. It prevented people from going outside and doing things. It was a general nuisance. Link begged to differ. The rain reminded him of his home, in Ordon Village. It rained fairly regularly throughout all of the seasons there. For the people of Ordon Village and the residents of the Ordon Province at large, the rain wasn't an obstacle or nuisance. It was merely a part of life. Rain or no rain, life carried on. Link supposed that was why the rain reminded him of the cow and sheep pens he used to take care of, so many years ago. It reminded him of the endless trees of Ordon Forest and the fishing hole near his house. Of Zora's Domain, of Rito's Village and of Hyrule castle. Of…Zelda. Of Sheik. Of course, those memories were all from different places and different times. But the same feeling ran through all of the memories. All was right in the world when it rained. Everything felt more real when it rained.
The door opened behind him.
"Oh! Link! Fancy seeing you here!" boomed a friendly voice.
"Falcon! I thought you went down to that sparring match with Mario and Ryu," said Link.
"Yeah, I did. Mario won by the way. Some of the others are going at it now. Thought I'd catch some fresh air for a while. Mind if I join you?"
Link gestured to another one of the chairs. Falcon walked over to one of the chairs and sat down.
"Ahh, still raining," said Falcon. "I guess that's a good thing by your standards."
Link smiled. "It is."
"Figures. Anyway, how's it been going in Hyrule?" asked Falcon.
"Not bad," shrugged Link. "Not too much on my end. There were two reports of corrupted Guardians deep way on the fringes of Hyrule a few months back. Took me a while to track them down. How about you?"
"Racing. Tracking down bad guys. There was a group of them who were escaped bank robbers who were already planning their next scheme. Caught up to them while they were trying to get a bank vault door open. You would not believe these guys. I snuck up behind them and stood there with my arms crossed for at least 20 minutes."
Link chuckled. "You'd think bank robbers would have better situational awareness."
"I thought so too," said Falcon. "I sent the cops a holler that I'd found the robbers. They were still trying to break open the door when the cops rolled up."
"A peaceful mission for once?"
"Actually, one of them tried attacking me."
Link raised an eyebrow.
"Took him out with a single regular punch. Knocked him out cold. His buddies surrendered immediately after that," said Falcon.
Link nodded. "Business as usual, then."
"Yup. Good payout too, if I might add. The Federation doesn't like bank robbers, that's for sure. Suits me just fine."
The two sat in comfortable silence for some time as Link drained his cup of tea and the rain pattered on the roof. Link and Falcon had been friends ever since Master Hand had recruited them for the very first mission taken on by the Smashers. They were an unlikely duo, due to Falcon's brash and confident manner and Link's quiet and unassuming manner. The two had bonded over their shared love of sparring. Being two of the most combat focused fighters of the original Twelve Smashers, they had spent many hours duking it out, honing their skills.
It was an interesting dichotomy that the two had, made all the more prominent by the fact that they were considered to be two of the most powerful smashers. It was a battle that had played out in the sparring arena time and time again. Falcon's pure physical strength, speed and power against Link's arsenal, versatility and wide skillset. Falcon had trained his hand to hand fighting style to such a high degree that he had little difficulty fighting against weapon users. Though he always brought a shield, Link caught the business end of a Falcon Punch or Falcon Kick on a somewhat regular basis during spars, a testament to Falcon's skill. Link, to contrast this, was the jack of all trades, master of a few. Packing an imposing arsenal in his Fairy Pouch, Link could utilize the contents of the pouch to great effect, giving him some sort of advantage is nearly any situation. To top it all off, Link also had trained in several different fighting styles, including Hylian swordsmanship, Zora spearmanship, Rito aerial archery, Gerudo sand seal jousting and Goron wrestling. The wrestling techniques in particular had caught Falcon out more times than the flashy Captain cared to admit.
After some time, Falcon broke the silence.
"Rain brings back memories, doesn't it?"
Link nodded.
Falcon smiled and continued. "Brings back memories of the good old days."
"Bounty hunting?" asked Link.
"Yeah. Bounty hunting," said Captain Falcon
Link raised an eyebrow. "Nostalgia getting to you?"
Captain Falcon sighed. "I guess. Ah, it was so much different than it is now. I had just gotten out of the Navy back then, and I was trying to make my way in the world. I was so much more arrogant and hotheaded back then. Always getting into fights. Hah! What I joke I used to be," said Falcon with a bemused laugh.
"Then what happened? Jody?" asked Link.
"Actually, Black Shadow happened. I met Jody after that. She was important too. But Black Shadow happened first. I've told you that one, right? My first fight with Black Shadow?"
"Yeah," said Link. "Almost got you killed, but you managed to pull a win, right? You faked him out with a fake Falcon Punch, landed a Falcon Kick to his legs, and then you got him with a real Falcon Punch."
Falcon smiled. "Yup. They took him to the emergency room before they took him to prison. I mean, they took me to the emergency room too, but still, he definitely got the worst of that fight."
"And that's why he hates your guts so much."
"Oh, you bet he does. You wouldn't think it from a guy like him, but Black Shadow writes poetry. It's pretty interesting coming from a criminal mastermind. Some of it has artistic value, like the one on the philosophical value of waterfalls. The rest of it's how he's going to destroy his enemies. Probably directed at me."
Link nodded. "Reminds me of Ganondorf."
"Ah, Ganondorf. How's his nose doing?"
"Still crooked. He's gonna need plastic surgery if he wants it straightened."
Falcon laughed. "Ah. That ranks as one of my all-time favorite Falcon Punches. Just the look on his face before my punch landed was priceless!"
Link smiled, fondly remembering the second time that Master Hand had rallied them. Ganondorf had decided to try his hand at conquering the galaxy at large instead of just Hyrule. Link was thankful that he hadn't had to fight him alone, again. They had managed to catch Ganondorf before he had fully completed his plan. This had led to a confrontation between himself and Ganondorf, transformed into Dark Beast Ganon. Backed by Young Link, Sheik, Mario, Marth, Fox, Falco and Captain Falcon, they had engaged the stolen Subspace Core powered monster in battle. While the others brought down Ganondorf's army of minions, Link had managed to hold Ganondorf's attention long enough in the melee for Falcon to sneak up on the monster and blindside him with a well-placed Falcon Punch to the face before he could react. That moment was also one of Link's favorite memories, just in general.
"In other news, Toon Link and Tetra found some new island. I think they named it Two Heroes Island or something in honor of themselves," said Link, changing the topic.
"Ah, gotta love naming conventions. Doesn't have a name, so might as well name it after yourself," said Falcon.
"Yeah. Apparently, they're planning to build some secret base there. The island is half a kilometer long, for crying out loud. I even saw the plans. The real question, ignoring transportation of materials, is if the island is big enough for their secret base plans. It's supposed to have a vault for their treasures, twenty rooms, a hot tub, full utilities, and eight freezers just for ice cream. You know. Because 9 freezers for ice cream is excessive."
Falcon just laughed. "I wonder how much of that treasure they're going to have to part with to make the base."
"I know," said Link. "I mean, I have my own little stashes of supplies around Hyrule. None of them have 8 freezers for ice cream. You know how many rupees that's saved me?"
"Yeah, but knowing you, your stashes are literally a small hole in a wall or a hollow tree trunk with one of those fairy pouches of yours in hidden in it," said Falcon.
Link shrugged. "Guilty as charged."
Falcon continued, "You're the embodiment of practicality. Haven't you chopped vegetables with the Master Sword of all things before?"
"I mean, I don't have to bring an extra knife for stuff like that, so it works," said Link. "C'mon! The moblin guts add flavor! Puts hair on your chest!"
Falcon just rolled his eyes. "You couldn't even sell that as a Hylian delicacy!"
"Not me, but maybe Zelda could?" said Link with an impish grin on his face. "Diplomacy and all that rot! She'd be great for that!"
Falcon scoffed. "And I thought you were the pessimist of the two of us."
"I am the pessimist. You'd try to sell it yourself. I can see the brand name now. 'Captain Falcon's Gourmet Foods', now with Hylian Flavoring!"
The two burst out laughing at that.
"I would do that, wouldn't I?" chortled Falcon.
Falcon sat up a little. "You know? I think that we should go challenge the guys to some doubles. Since there's a bunch of people in the training rooms right now, we should have enough people for a bunch of proper two vs two battles."
Link shrugged. "I'm game."
"We should have some good fights!" said Falcon with excitement. "Mario and Luigi, Ryu and Ken, Sheik and Corrinne, Kirby and Meta Knight, and Simon and Richter all put up really good fights last time, right?"
Link shrugged. "I'm good as long as we're not sparring against any of the Pokemon trainers,"
Falcon paused, his face going slightly pale. "Uh, yeah. Those guys were born to fight doubles. Seriously, the strategies they have are unreal! And the combo moves they've got too!"
Link nodded in agreement. "Glad we're only on the receiving end when we're training."
"They train to fight in pairs, don't they?" asked Falcon.
"I think so. I think they also train to fight all together as well."
"Really? No wonder they're so coordinated!" said Falcon, impressed. "Wait a second. I knew that. They were practicing their ultimate finisher move yesterday, were you here for that?"
"No, what did they do?" asked Link.
"It was crazy!" said Falcon. "They had…uh what was it….uh Mega Evolution, Gigamax, Combo Z-Move thingie?"
"Wait, the one where the Pokémon turns super big?" asked Link.
"Yeah! Except with the extra mega evolution thing at the same time. And while they were doing that, they did some combo attack with a bunch of those super powerful Z-move things," said Falcon. "They nearly destroyed the bomb range! I really need to start stepping up my game!"
Link snorted. "Of course you'd say that. Gotta remember, it's not all about massive power attacks!"
"It is for me!" protested Falcon. "What are my best moves? The Falcon Punch and Blue Falcon Punch!"
"Instead of punching somebody with a flaming Falcon around your fist, your most powerful move is to punch somebody with a flaming car around your fist instead," deadpanned Link. "Real original."
"Hey! The Blue Falcon Punch is in the shape of my car! You don't beat the Blue Falcon!"
Link just snorted good naturedly. It was fun to pull Falcon's leg like that.
"Anyway, at least I have a power move! What do you have?"
"A slingshot," grinned Link without skipping a beat. "Finest slingshot in all of Hyrule."
Falcon rolled his eyes. "Hmm….Falcon Punch vs Slingshot. A high-level application of one's powers that has been known to take down extraordinarily powerful villains versus a child's toy meant to shoot pumpkin seeds in a straight-ish arc…..hmm…I wonder which one would win?"
"The slingshot for sure," said Link. "It lets me use all sorts of powerful attacks!"
Falcon snorted. "Sure, powerful attacks. Just like the one where you hold your sword out, spin in circles and scream as loud as you can!"
They both cracked up at that.
"That's the best description of the Spin Attack that I've ever heard!" wheezed Link.
"Thank you, thank you! I'll be here all week!" chuckled Falcon.
After they finished laughing, Falcon stood up.
"Anyway, you ready to beat the tar out of the others?"
Link pulled himself to his feet. "Let's get 'em!"
Falcon quickly turned on his heel and walked indoors. Link turned to pick up his now empty cup of tea. He took a long look around the backyard of Smash Mansion. It was so peaceful as the rain drummed down on Smash Mansion. He took one more deep breath, savoring the peace and calm for one last moment.
"C'mon, Link! Whatcha waiting for?" asked Falcon from the doorway.
Link turned on his heel. "Nothing. Just got distracted for a second. Let's go!"
This one was inspired by a week of rainy days near me. I enjoy the rain (other than having to drive too much in it) and thought I'd try and turn that into something. Hope it turned out well!
Also, there is a new Super Smash Bros fanfiction and fanart Discord server that's been opened called Super Smash Prose! If this interests you, the Discord ID is gDK48ua.