(AN: 200 chapters baby! I know we're all going through a lot lately, and if I've given you even one moment of reprieve I've done my job. Thank you so much for going on this journey with me and hopefully we have many more chapters together)

Round 6: Day 14

Quinn

Smash Mansion
Quinn, Sans, and Altair's suite

Quinn's room

1200

Rumors traveled quickly around the Mansion. Quinn hadn't even been at the Mansion long enough to get one of Doctor Mario's pills when Sans told everyone within earshot of the beating they had taken in the Order of the Assassin's base. Not helping matters was that he'd shot down the idea of him and Rosalina sharing a bed that night very publicly in the foyer.

"Ben couldn't be stopped, we tried the entire menu," Quinn had insisted.

Luckily Rosalina had laughed, immediately getting what he was saying. But his phone was abuzz with concerned text messages full of unsolicited advice. Among these were Ryu and Chun-Li, who were kind enough to add Rosalina to a group chat.

"When I take a beating," Chun-Li had explained, "I take a spa day. I've been wanting to try this place in Cloud's sector that supposedly gives really good massages.

Rosalina had accepted, and that was enough for Quinn to send his own half-baked response. The next thing he remembered, he woke up the next afternoon.

Wiping slobber from his communicator, he went through his daily routine. Slipping into a worn WVBA shirt Jesse Ventura had mailed him when he won the title and some basketball shorts, Quinn opened the door to find Rosalina standing there, her arms crossed, barely containing a smile.

"How was last night?"

"Like you'd expect," Quinn laughed stepping into some slip-on sneakers placed by the door.

Rosalina laughed as she and Quinn began to walk.

"Look, you didn't have to " Rosalina began as they passed her door.

"Listen, between the three of us, it smelled like an egg processing plant that hasn't had power for three weeks. I wouldn't have put my worst enemy through that, much less my girlfriend."

Rosalina glanced over her shoulder at her room, alight with Lumas, the barrage of color even visible through the crack underneath the door.

"They missed you though," she said.

Quinn mulled over this as they opened the grand door to the staircase.

"We can read to 'em or something in the next couple of days. I think I'm all trained out after that brushup with Altair."

The two walked down the spiral staircase. With each step, Quinn remembered the feeling of cold steel piercing his skin. Even though Doctor Mario's pills had taken the pain away in short order, the memories remained.

"Could you read to them?" Rosalina asked.

Quinn's eyes widened, "Like, alone?"

"Yes," Rosalina said, "They like your voice, and I want to see how well you improvise on your own."

The feeling of steel rubbing on the skin was replaced in Quinn's imagination by the chirping of the Lumas.

"Yeah, sure,"

At the bottom of the steps, she took his hands, guiding him as the two commandeered one of the couches in the foyer. Her hands already ran through his hair, the warmth of a fireplace on a winter day radiating through him before Quinn could blink.

"No matter what happens," Rosalina said, leaning closer, "You're our champion."

Just as the two were about to kiss, a voice rang out.

"I hope we're not...interrupting anything,"

Chun-Li was the one who had spoken, her usual easy-going expression replaced by a tight, uncomfortable one. Ryu followed behind.

The once canoodling couple now snapped to opposite sides of the couch. At this, Chun-Li's usual expression returned.

"So," she said, tapping a code into the communicator, "Are we ready?"

Quinn and Rosalina nodded. Nodding back, Chun-Li pressed a final button, activating the portal. The four stepped through, and the portal disappeared as quickly as it had arrived. Each of the four took in the atmosphere of the point. Items associated with Feng Shui dotted the place, the lighting suitably dim, and the air burned with cheap incense. Immediately, Quinn gauged Chun-Li and Ryu's reaction. Quinn had to hold back laughter at their deeply unimpressed expressions.

"Dragon Driftway called, they want their stuff back," Rosalina giggled.

At this, the only other door in the place, a paper partition door flew open, the wood grinding against the tract. A woman in a black flowing geisha uniform, fan at the ready, stomped through.

"LISTEN," she seethed, "IF YOU-"

She stopped, taking in just exactly who stood before her. Her expression immediately softened, her customer service smile as flirty as it was smarmy.

"Ah, forgive my rudeness. As a woman in customer service, you must take a harsher voice."

She pointed her fan dramatically to Chun-Li, "Surely Miss Li, you must understand."

Chun-Li and Rosalina nodded agreeably, but Quinn couldn't move. Her voice had already locked him up, despite its obvious fakeness. Quinn quickly shot a glance at Ryu, who appeared to be sharing the same fate.

"I am Madame M," she continued, "And you must be the co-workers of Mister Strife that he called me about so late last night."

Now it was Ryu's turn to wince. Quinn smiled. He'd heard the ice-cold anger through the sweetness too.

"Thank you for seeing us on such notice," Chun-Li said with a bow, "I had only just discovered the place, and…"

"I owe Mister Strife a great many favors, and so, if friends of his want to make an appointment after close with less than a business day's notice, I am more than happy to accommodate."

Quinn's face twisted in confusion, Madame M's eyes quickly snapped to him, a glare so intense it could've drained a man of any bravado he had. The next second, Madame M was smiling softly again.

"It appears we have some….non-believers, so Chun-Li and Ryu, you're going first. Luckily for you, your boss Mario already established a tab here and has agreed to a standing order of Luxury Courses. Also, luckily for you, I'm more than equipped to do couples."

The four glanced at each other, Madame M frowning in response.

"Come," she demanded.

Like obedient schoolchildren, Ryu and Chun-Li stood, following Madame M into the back.

Minutes later

"Oh, I see," Madame M's voice echoed from beyond the door, "Both of your hands indicate a fear of commitment, to each other likely. How delectable."

Quinn glanced around the room as Madame M's laugh filled the place.

"Rosalina I swear to God we have to get out of here ri-"

"What are you so worried about," Rosalina giggled, "It's just a-"

The moans began, derailing Rosalina's train of thought.

"Is it…ethical to hear your co-workers like this," Quinn asked, his voice coming out as a high-pitched squeak, "Do we have an HR department?"

"It would be rude to turn her down," said an unusually flummoxed Rosalina.

The moans continued to permeate the place.

"Fear commitment no more," Madame M said in a soft yet commanding voice, "Let the stresses melt through you, just…"

Chun-Li let out several squeaks in succession

"Like…"

Now it was Ryu's turn to cry out, a deep and throaty moan.

"This."

Both of them screamed out.

"Rosalina we have to get-"

Ryu and Chun-Li staggered out of the room, arm-in-arm, interlocked in a kiss.

"WHAT?" Quinn and Rosalina screamed simultaneously.

"Ah yes, such is the magic of my technique," Madame M declared, seemingly floating behind them, "Are you ready?"

Quinn headed for the exit, but Rosalina pulled him forward. They stepped behind the partition, sealing their fates.

Later

All Rosalina and Quinn could do was stare into their dominant hands as they staggered out, the only sound echoing around the small parlor was Ryu and Chun-Li making out in the chair by the door. Although Madame M had only massaged the wrist, the muscular looseness seemed to permeate through the entire body. Madame M had said some things at the beginning about Quinn's fear of betrayal and Rosalina's desire for company, but even trying to connect words to meanings was impossible, their brains just as mushy as their muscles.

"So," Rosalina declared, "I know a good place for…food. Yes, for food."

Six times she tried to put something into the communicator, each of them wrong.

Quinn thought of the first restaurant that came to his head.

"Japanese McDonalds," Quinn shouted into his communicator.

A portal opened to the golden arches.. and the four stepped through. Ryu and Chun-Li were undeterred from their tonsil hockey as they moved.

Luigi

Smash Mansion

Foyer

1300

Luigi's morning had begun late and listless. Daisy had gotten up before him to attend to something to do with the pastry shop she and Peach co-owned. Mario and the rest of the administration team were once again attempting to track the Smash Core, and everyone else seemed to be training. So, he participated in a time-honored tradition that he had never bothered with, walking up and down the Training Floor until he found someone looking to throw hands.

Luckily, he'd found Banjo and Kazooie.

"Well, Diddy just left," gossiped Kazooie, "Edelgard is getting gussied up for some date she has with the singer, Terry's trying to pitch denim tablecloths to the Hoshido/Nohr court, Vegeta and Zelda are giving some sort of magic lecture, Sans is sleeping, Altair is off campus, and the Phantom Thieves are training Peach later on today."

"What's she sayin' is, wanna spar?" asked Banjo.

And so they had. The sparring sessions had only lasted an hour before the bear and bird duo decided to get lunch. Luigi had politely gone along with whatever they wanted to do, but secretly welcomed it. Such a freeform, lowkey sparring session was a boon for his mental health, who had started to tire of the training room. Now, they were headed to the cafeteria.

"So, how're ya feelin' bucko?" Kazooie asked.

Luigi eyed the pair up and down, searching for some indication of tomfoolery. Banjo's warm expression showed it was genuine.

"To be honest," Luigi whispered as they walked into the cafeteria.

Luigi made his order, a Peronza Plaza Soup, Banjo and Kazooie getting two helpings of the same.

"What?" Kazooie balked as they walked to find open seats, "You're nervous? You've made it this far."

Plumber and bear took their seats, the former sighing.

"But the doubt seeps in regardin' if I can make it further."

"Ya know, I feel like it's been in the air today. Everybody's training for the big showdown with Conker."

Kazooie shrugged as Banjo began to slurp his soup.

"What?" asked Luigi.

"That'll come whether you win or lose," Kazooie explained, "You've got the tournament ahead, focus on that."

"I have been, and I don't feel like-"

"Look," Banjo began, but sighed.

The two sat in silence, Kazooie now taking the time to slurp her soup.

"You're a Mushroom Kingdomite, you remember when we…went away right?"

"How could I forget?" Luigi asked, "Diddy was near apoplectic, but even the greatest sorcerers in the world across all the kingdoms couldn't understand what was goin' on."

"The thing we get asked all the time is, how did we deal with it?"

Luigi swallowed a mouthful of soup, his expression bright and curious.

"I've always wanted to ask, but, ya know, always weird to ask a friend of a friend something so existential."

"I get it," Banjo nodded, slowly slurping a spoonful of soup, "So, how we did it? We wrapped our arms…"

"Talons, in my case," cheekily added Kazooie.

Banjo rolled his eyes, but his smile still remained as he slurped yet more soup, pausing to chew on a particularly plump piece of potato.

"Right. We wrapped around each other, held on, and did what we could. If the situation called for building a car…"

"Which I bitch about, ya know, for yucks, but it was actually way more fun than the critics said it was," Kazooie mumbled.

"…We did it!" finished Banjo, "And why? Because it was better than sittin' around like we did for all the years. If it came to racing Sonic and his friends, we did it because, again, better than sitting around moping about not getting a game."

Kazooie slurped the rest of her soup, dramatically tossing the bowl on the table.

"And we did the best we could.," she yelled, "Because it's all we could do."

"And, it's the only thing you can do, the best you can do I mean."

"Yeah Banjo, I get it," Luigi nodded.

Kazooie grinned impishly, "Plus, I love Quinn, but you're freakin' Luigi dude, you're way better than him. What's worse, if you get all the way to the end and lose to Sephiroth's goofy ass, fat 30-year-olds who work in boring cubicle jobs will never let you hear the end of it."

"That seems…targeted."

Banjo sighed "It is. You shoulda seen our social media when we lost to Terry. Absolute nonsense."

"That's why I never go on it," Luigi laughed.

Kazooie nodded, "Smart fella. You have all of us beat, hanging out with people who love you instead of the endless void of social media."

Luigi nodded, more as a polite return of a gesture than an indication of understanding.

Banjo and Luigi once again sat in silence, eating their soup while Kazooie tapped away on her communicator. As Luigi basked in the warmth of the soup, letting the hearty meat and veggies dance on his tongue. Banjo and Kazooie's words became too clear to him. The way the odd pair often spoke reminded Luigi more of riddles than anything, but their message this time was simple: relax and try your best.

"Thanks, folks," Luigi said as he finished his meal, "You're really helping me clear the brain fog."

Kazooie pumped her talon in victory, "No problem! It's up to us to be the stars of the bicentennial chapter baby!"

And the riddles are back, Luigi huffed, rolling his eyes.

"It's a big freakin' deal," Kazooie huffed back.

"I'll take your word for it, thanks."

Just as he stood, Travis Touchdown stepped into the cafeteria.

"Yo Big Green!" Travis waved, "Wanna go train after I grab lunch?"

"Yep," Luigi said, jogging out of the cafeteria, "I'll run down and set up Thunder Ryu's gym for you."

And so, despite everything, he once again descended the stairs that had become the symbol of so much grief. He had a tournament to win after all!