Author's Note: All right, folks! The next chapter of Library of Moments has arrived!
Before we start, I would like to mention that I have named Male Byleth Byron, Female Byleth Brynhilde and Male Robin Robert.
Hope you enjoy!
Chrom strolled through the hallways of Smash Mansion, a bag of pre prepared food in one hand and a bag of camping cooking equipment in the other. He was pumped. Really pumped. The others were about to experience perfection in the form of his campfire style venison stew. He had all the seasoning, vegetables and most importantly, his venison. It was only a matter of lighting the fire and making his friends the best venison stew the world had ever seen.
He stepped out onto the porch.
"Hey Chrom!" called Pac Man from where he stood in front of the grill, setting up. "Fire stuff's by the fire pit like you asked!"
"Thanks!" called Chrom back.
Chrom strode straight up to the fireplace. A bundle of logs and tinder sat next to it, along with a lighter. Chrom dropped his bags and got to setting up the fire. With practiced ease, he set the tinder ablaze and quickly fanned the spark into a respectable cooking fire. The fire was essential to his recipe. The stew had to be cooked over a wood fire as the smoke enhanced the flavor. He'd tried making it in a more conventional stove and it just didn't quite taste right.
Chrom reached into his camping bag and pulled out a medium sized cooking pot. He arranged it in front of himself on the coals of the fire. Chrom then turned to his bag of food and produced several sealed bags of precut ingredients. He added some water, before dumping in the bag of venison cubes. The bags of potatoes, carrots, and beans followed, along with a smaller bag of onions and an even smaller bag of his own personal spice blend that he'd worked so hard to perfect. He stirred the stew before rubbing his hands together and placing the lid on the pot. It was time to wait.
Exactly 45 minutes later, Chrom opened the lid. A delicious aroma met his nose, and he poked at the contents with a meat probe. It looked like it was nearly done. This fire wasn't quite as hot as he would have liked, so he decided to let it cook for a little longer.
"Hey!" shouted Pac Man from the grill. "You done yet? I'm almost done with my kebabs! Olimar's up at the grill after me and then we eat!"
"Don't worry! I'm almost done here!" called Chrom back.
"That's right! I'm getting hungry!" boomed Bowser as he strode out of a storage shed in the yard, a plastic folding table under each arm. Snake and Game and Watch followed him carrying a few folding chairs each.
Chrom put the lid on his pot and watched as Bowser placed a few bags of chips, a container of salsa and a large box of cookies on the table from where he'd left them on the grass. Sadly, Bowser wasn't the best cook, which was why he ended up buying most of the stuff to fill in the gaps of the potluck. Game and Watch followed behind him with two large glass jars of tea. The 2D man loved the stuff and was known for his homemade tea concoctions. Chrom could attest to the flavor and lack of bitterness of G&W's tea. He was a master in his own right, that much was certain. And of course, Snake had brought his infamous Creepy Crawly Platter. Not that snake and frog legs were that creepy or crawly, but apparently the name had stuck and despite the name, it was legendary. According to Otacon and Sunny, anyway. Chrom would be the judge of that, but if the recommendations were anything to go by, it was going to be great.
Pac Man followed them to the table, a large plate of kebabs in his hand, piled high. That looked real good. Which meant Olimar was on the grill. The space pilot was standing on a stool, placing various vegetables on the grill.
It wouldn't be long before Olimar's Pikpik carrots would be done, the Hocotacian had assured them that they would only take a few minutes to cook on an already hot grill. Chrom turned back to his pot and checked the contents. He stirred the stew a little. It definitely looked done. He stuck his meat probe into one of the chunks of meat and waited as the temperature hit 180 degrees. He smiled. It was definitely cooked. He quickly picked up the pot with a pair of oven mitts and carried it over to the table. Bowser gave him a massive grin.
"Hey! That smells pretty good!"
"Just wait till you actually taste it!" said Chrom. "Gonna be the best stew you've ever had!"
"Hah! I'll reserve my judgement till I eat it!"
"Go ahead! Still gonna be the best stew you've ever eat!"
Bowser just laughed.
"Anyway, I'm gonna put the fire out real quick," said Chrom.
"All righty then!" said Bowser. "Don't take too long, I think Olimar's plating his carrots."
Chrom quickly made his way towards the door. As he neared the door, it opened to reveal the stone faced fishing master himself, Byron. He stepped out with a large plate with several fish filets on it, leaning against the door with his back to open it. Chrom held the door for him.
"Thanks," Byron said with his characteristic lack of inflection.
Chrom nodded as he passed him. He turned to the side of the doorway, where he'd left a bucket of water. He carried it over to the fire and quickly doused it. Satisfied that the fire was thoroughly quenched, Chrom turned around and went back to the table where the others were congregating.
Bowser, Olimar, Mr. Game and Watch, Pac Man, Byron, and Snake were already seated by the time Chrom got there.
"All right!" said Game and Watch, looking around, and making sure that everybody was there. "We're all present! I hereby declare this meeting of Dad's Club in session!"
He tapped the table with his spoon like a gavel. Game and Watch then pulled out a piece of paper.
"All right. For today's itinerary…well, first thing on the docket is to eat the food before it gets cold! All right! Dig in folks!"
There was a general cheer. Chrom quickly grabbed one of Pac Man's kebabs before Game and Watch swiped too many and nabbed one of Byron's fish filets while they were still hot. He waited a moment for Olimar to finish pouring himself a glass of tea. Olimar, noticing him, passed him the jar. Chrom nodded in appreciation and filled his own cup, before grabbing a roasted Pikpik carrot from one platter, and a few frog legs from the other. Finally, Chrom swiped one of the disposable bowls and ladled a few scoops of his stew in and began wolfing down the food.
The food was fantastic. Usually, for the meetings of the Dad's Club, they got carry out from somewhere. However, after a long discussion about their home-grown master recipes, Game and Watch had gotten the idea to propose that they actually have a potluck of their own with the dishes they had just bragged about. And Chrom was not regretting his vote to make it happen in the slightest. The others knew what they were doing, that was for sure. And judging by the speed that everybody was eating at, the others were also enjoying the food. They ate with voracious appetites with minimal conversation for some time. Eventually, they began to slow down.
Stomach full, Chrom took a moment to appreciate the situation. The Dad's Club had been formed by all of the fathers and father figures of the Super Smash Bros. It wasn't easy being an intergalactic hero and a dad at the same time, and the members of the Dad's Club were there to help and encourage each other as best they could. It was quite the interesting group that they made. But it was a group of men who Chrom could trust and who he got along with splendidly. And for that comradery, he was tremendously grateful.
Bowser leaned back in his chair, squeaking under the weight of his shell.
"Ah….that was fantastic! What a great idea GW!" he boomed.
"Yeah! That was great!" said Olimar. "And my oxygen screen helmet worked perfectly!"
Chrom smiled. Olimar's oxygen screen was a flexible energy-based screen over a gap in a specialized helmet that allowed him to eat food straight from the environment without risking oxygen poisoning. It had cost quite a pretty penny, but he and the other members had pitched in some cash to help out the space captain, and he was glad that Olimar could participate in the feasting this time.
Game and Watch smiled. "Glad that this was a success. Now, onto the second matter of business. We have another Smasher who qualifies as a candidate for Dad's Club."
"Of course! Corrin and Azura are expecting. Congrats to them!" said Olimar.
"So, how are we going to do this? Corrin is getting an invite to the club, right?"
"Of course," said Chrom. The others nodded in agreement.
"All right. So, when are we going to consider him a dad?" asked Game and Watch. "When his son is born or right now?
"Hmm…I would we could just get him in now," said Snake after some deliberation.
"Why's that?" asked Game and Watch.
"Well, we have a wide definition of what counts as a dad, right? For instance, Byron is a surrogate dad to his group of mercenaries due to their…situation, right?" said Snake.
Chrom nodded. Due to their delicate situation as nobles of the fallen Adrestian Empire, Byron had taken several of his former students from his time teaching at the Garreg Mach monetary under his wing as mercenaries. He wasn't totally filled in on the entire situation, as the whole thing apparently had been some sort of backroom deal with the King of Faerghus, with whom Byron had fought during the Reunification War of Fodlan a few years ago. The only reason that Chrom even knew that much was because he had insider info on their situation, as Byron's twin sister Brynhilde was married to his brother in law, Robert. Though the two men didn't see each other as often as they would have liked to, they maintained a warm friendship that had lasted for decades.
Olimar piped up. "And neither Snake or Chrom is …uh… a father in the traditional sense. So, I think that Corrin being an expecting father counts."
Chrom nodded. Snake was practically the second father of Sunny, a girl that Otacon and Naomi had adopted. He didn't know the specifics of the situation, but Snake's reluctance to talk about probably meant that it wasn't a good idea to press too much. And it wasn't like he was one to talk about sharing sensitive subjects, either. He…had lost his wife, Robin, and three children in a tragic fire several years ago. There wasn't a day that he didn't think of them, and there were many reasons he didn't talk about it much. Thankfully, the others had been very understanding.
"When you think about it, I don't think that we have any reason to not include Corrin right away!" said Pac Man.
Bowser nodded. "That's fair. I don't have any objections."
"Let's have a quick vote. All in favor of inviting Corrin right now, raise your hand," said Game and Watch. Everybody raised their hand.
"All right, unanimous vote. Who's going to deliver the invite?"
"I'll do it," said Chrom. "I spar with him enough of the time. I'll invite him to the next meeting, right?"
"That's right," said Game and Watch. "Anyway, that concludes our agenda. That means its poker time!"
There was a general cheer. Bowser looked around him.
"Wait, where'd I leave the chips?"
The others looked around the table but didn't see the case.
Bowser suddenly scratched chin awkwardly. "Oh wait, I left it in the kitchen. I'll be right back."
Bowser stomped off towards the door back into the mansion.
After a short silence, Pac Man said, "So, anybody got anything interesting going on?"
"I'm off with Master Hand to destroy that Subspace Core we took from the Space Pirates once we're done with training," said Byron. "So, I'll be out in deep space for a few weeks while we get out far enough to destroy it.
"Oh, right! Who's going with you?" asked Olimar.
"Well, Master Hand, of course. We'll also have Waluigi and his Piranha Plant, Terry, Banjo and Kazooie, and Crazy Hand. I think Joker and Luminary will be coming with us, and I want to say Master Hand was trying to get a few more people to come with," said Byron.
Snake nodded. "Sounds like you've got a handful."
Byron let out a dry chuckle. "Yeah. Joker hates Waluigi's plant. At least I have Banjo and Terry to help me keep things civil."
"Say, didn't Terry go out to some martial arts tournament for a few days?" asked Pac Man with a sip of his tea. "When's Terry supposed to be back?"
"Tomorrow, I think," said Byron after a moment of thought. "Because we leave the day after tomorrow."
"Have fun," said Chrom jokingly. "Don't space out too much."
Byron rolled his eyes. "Sure. But I'll have to dream a bit. Can't be too grounded if I want to go to space."
"Yeah," said Pac Man. "But if you're head's in the clouds, that means you aren't in space yet."
"Of course. If we're gonna get out that far, we're gonna have to shoot for the stars," said Bryon.
There was a moment of silence, before all present burst into uproarious laughter.
"Ah, that was pretty good!" wheezed Game and Watch.
"I know, right?" said Chrom.
Suddenly, the door to the Mansion opened and Bowser stepped out with a case in his hand.
"Got the case! Poker time boys!"
There was another cheer. Chrom rubbed his hands as Bowser began dealing the cards. He grabbed his hand of cards and glanced at his hand. Not too bad. He looked up his poker face ready. Time to make the guys read and weep.
So, I have a few items to address here at the end.
First of all. I anticipate what I did with Chrom's family causing some uproar…don't worry too much on that front. I'd provide more details now, but that would go into spoiler territory. More on that is coming later. For now, just know that some things had to be changed up with putting Chrom and Marth in the same timeframe.
Second of all, those of you who read last week's chapter will remember that I have an announcement this week. Well, here's the announcement. You remember that longfic that I said that would accompany this fic in the first chapter? It's finally coming out! Hooray! Unfortunately, it's going to be about two weeks before I can get the first chapter out due to finals (sigh), but it's finally gonna go live! I've been working on this for quite some time, so I'm quite excited to start publishing.
Third and finally, if you're not interested in a long fic and just want more Library of Moments chapters, fret not. There will be more Library of Moments chapters that will come while my longfic is being posted, though those chapters will come at my usual pace of whenever I happen to catch some inspiration.
And of course, here's my shameless plug for my discord server that I'm sure you've all come to expect by now: Are you interested in Super Smash Bros Fanfiction and Fanart? Then the Super Smash Prose Discord server is for you! If this interests you, the Discord ID is gDK48ua.
Stay safe out there, and I'll see you all after finals!