A Friend In Need

Map in hand, the last and latest of the Super Smash Bros. Brawl roster stumbled through the halls of Smash Mansion, trying to figure out where he was. Hopelessly lost for what seemed like the 15th time, he continued walking, fearing he’d never get to the main hall in time. He was already late, grudgingly dragging a small suitcase down yet another hallway. His troubled little mind began to imagine how angry everyone would be at his lateness, glaring at him for disrespecting them with his inadequacy. He could already feel his chances of making a good first impression go out the window...

Distracted and distraught, he marched forward blindly until he accidentally walked in a large room, bumping into someone.

“Oh!” He jumped back, cowering. “I-I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to...”

"Huh? Oh, hello there," happily chirped a girl. He noticed she was wearing a name tag saying her name was Peach.

“...”

She flipped through papers on a clipboard. "I don’t think I’ve ever seen you around here before. What's your name? Are you competing?"

“...” The boy looked up and frowned, afraid of what to say. She looked nice enough, but...

“Don’t be shy now,” she gently urged. “Tell me, what’s your name?”

"...L-Lucas..." he finally whimpered.

"Lucas?" She went through more papers. "Lucas... Lucas... Oh, here you are! Yes, we've been expecting you."

He breathed a sigh of relief. Something about the way she said that told him he didn’t have to worry about any tardy punishments.

"Here you go." She handed him a paper. “This is your registration form. After you fill it out, please turn it in. And one more thing...”

She scribbled something on a name tag and put it on his shirt. Looking down at it, he read, 'Hello, my name is Lucas', his name written on there by her with a marker.

“…” He wasn’t sure to do next, so he looked up at her in confusion until she finished rummaging through more papers. Seeing his scared expression, she smiled.

“Is there something wrong?”

“...What do I do now?”

She giggled, pushing him from behind. "Why, mingle! That's the best way to find your friends. Go on, now. And have fun! Now that you’re here, everyone’s accounted for, and the matches should start shortly!"

He cringed. “B-but, I just got here...! I don’t wanna fight now! I-I’m not ready...!”

“Well, Newcomers aren’t fighting first anyway, so just relax and talk to the other competitors. We’ll get to you eventually.” She pushed him out into the crowd and left, going back to her work.

Mingle? How could possibly mingle with so many different... competitors? They came in all shapes and sizes; nearly half of them weren't even human! There were some people who looked like people, some animals that looked like people, animals that looked like animals, and people who looked animals! ...What kind of a place was this, anyway?

There was a fox butting heads with a wolf, while a bird and another lady in a dress talked. Across from them, a penguin, a warlock, and a spiky turtle argued over whose nemesis was more annoying, while a pair of apes tossed banana peels on the floor just in time for a guy in green to slip and fall on them. On the refreshments table, tiny, different-colored aliens with flowers on their heads cooperated in bringing drinks to those who’d requested them.

He had to do a double take as he saw a black silhouette dance across the room with a sword, as a guy and a kid impersonating him giving chase. Out of curiosity, a guy in red and a hedgehog exchanged a Mushroom and ring, while another kid struggled to keep a fire-breathing dragon from beating up an odd-looking robot who’d run over its tail.

Near the entrance, a trio of pretty boys loitered about. The two with blue hair and swords gloated to each other, while one with red hair and wings only shrugged. In the midst of their gloating, a short, fat guy came along and rudely ripped one right in their faces, causing them to disperse in horror of the stench.

Elsewhere, a lady in a suit took off her helmet as a buff guy ran up to her, screaming something about showing her his moves, to which she responded by kicking him in the stomach. Two pink balls near the refreshments table shrugged as a more mysterious blue ball and a jackal-like creature laughed maliciously at their triumphs over weaklings of the past.

Lucas felt like he’d stepped into another dimension, wandering about in fear and awe of such a colorful crowd. He carefully maneuvered his way through the horde, looking for someone, anyone he could identify with. Once again distracted, he bumped into something.

“Ah, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to--”

He stopped and laughed at himself as he realized he was talking to a cardboard box. What made it even funnier was that someone had given it a name tag saying, ‘Hello, my name is Snake’. The choice of name confused him, but it was still hilarious. ...Unfortunately, his laughter was short-lived as the box suddenly began scooting across the floor.

“Watch where you’re going next time, kid,” it uttered, going on until a green dinosaur bumped into it.

("Cool! A walking cardboard box!") it laughed, playfully kicking it. ("Whoever invited this guy must be a genius!")

The box proceeded to leave. "Urgh, not again... Where the heck is the refreshments table?"

("...A walking, talking cardboard box?! Wow! Can this get any better?!")

...Beyond confused, Lucas quickly found solitude on a couch near the edge of the room. Apparently, Peach never mentioned that mingling was easier said than done. With a sigh of defeat, he decided to take this time to look over his form. It asked mostly basic things, like name, attributes, favorite food, and so on. He answered each question easily, but soon came across the most-intimidating list of rules he’d ever seen:

“Participants may be exposed to extreme amounts of heat, cold, swordplay, voltage, and bestiality, among other things. Participants are also expected to hold their own as much as necessary, as you are expected to keep up with your schedules; no one will be babied here. Excessive taunting and blackmailing is strictly prohibited and punishment will be given as seen fit. Personal problems are not to be addressed, and should be avoided at all costs. Those who partake in unscheduled fights that aren’t for training purposes or sparring matches will be strictly punished with a chance of disqualification...”

The rules went on for another page-and-a-half, and being naturally over-cautious, Lucas felt it was his duty to read over them all...



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"What'd you put down for your favorite food?" whispered Popo to Ness. "I want eggplants, but Nana wants fish, so we’re kind of stuck on what to put.”

"I put steak," he answered. "Everybody outta like steak. It's only the best food ever."

“Ew, gross...” Nana groaned.

"I put everything," Kirby said, plopping on a chair next to Ness. "I mean, that counts, right? Everything? It did last time..."

"It does? Then that's what I'm putting!" responded Popo, erasing his answer.

“Popo, you can’t be serious...”

“What? We’re both signing in together, so isn’t there like, an acceptance rule for duos?”

Ness looked at their paper. “Why can’t you just put fish and eggplants?”

“Well... Um... Er... Yeah! I guess we could!” He glared at Nana. “Why didn’t you think of that?”

She rolled her eyes. “I said that over an hour ago, but you thought they’d take it too literally, or something... I don’t even really care anymore.”

"Hey, guys!" said Luigi into a megaphone. "Don't forget to find your partners! Everyone who has at least another representative on their team should try and find them! Remember: find one another, because that's the way of a brother!"

Wolf shook his head. "Wow. And I thought Fox was lame. That was beyond tacky."

The plumber sulked. "Yeah, I know..."

"Aw, I almost forgot about that,” said Kirby. “Well, mine are right over there, so...”

"What about you, Ness? Shouldn't you be looking for your partner?" asked Nana.

"Partner?" He blinked. "I didn't know I had one..."

“Really?” She scratched her head. “Could’ve sworn I saw a kid that looked like you come in... Maybe that was you...”

Popo shook his head. “Uh-uh, I saw ‘em, too. He wasn’t wearing a hat and had on a different shirt.”

“How come I didn’t know about this?”

"Maybe you didn't get the memo,” suggested Peach, coming over. “I told Mario to send them out two months in advance, but knowing him, he probably forgot..."

"It could've been lost in the mail," added Nana. "Keeping up with postage isn’t exactly easy, if you know what I mean."

“Well, is he at least someone I'll know?”

Peach flipped though pages on her clipboard, handing him a picture. "I doubt it. You two come from completely different places; you wouldn’t know him even if you saw him.”

"That's him?" he questioned upon observing it. Despite trying to smile, the kid looked absolutely horrified, poised to run at a moment's notice.

"According to these records, it would seem so.” The princess looked around. “I just saw the little guy a few minutes ago. I wonder where he wandered off to...”

(“He should’ve been here over two hours ago,”) grumbled Pikachu, overhearing them. He looked at the clock on the wall. (“Must be a real sleaze for making us wait like this.”)

“Don’t say that,” defended Nana. “He could be a pretty upstanding guy, and you’re already badmouthing him?”

(“With guys like Falcon running around, I wouldn’t put it past him...”)

"Well, I wouldn't say he didn't it on purpose... He actually looked a little depressed, like he was about to cry."

Pikachu frowned. ("Cry? For what? The guy's just been invited to one of the biggest throwdowns in history, and he shows up crying?")

Popo sneered. "C'mon, Pikachu. If you're gonna pick on someone, at least do it to a veteran."

"Yeah," added Nana. "There's nothing worse than a terrified Newcomer, and we wanna make this the best brawl ever, right?"

("Everyone's a critic...")

"Uh..." Peach scanned the area again. "Oh, there he is. Sitting in the corner over there."

Ness peered over to where she was looking to see him idly sitting on couch in the corner of the room. He looked frightened and paranoid, flinching every time someone walked by.

"Aw, he doesn't look that bad," he concluded, approaching. "Maybe he just needs someone to talk to."

Pikachu scoffed. ("That's what I thought when Falcon first got here, but noooo...")



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Lucas nibbled on his pen in apprehension. He wasn't sure why so nervous all of a sudden. He’d answered the entire form, and all it wanted to know now was the name of a preferred friend for Team Battles... whatever those where. He desperately looked around for a partner, not knowing one of the people in the room. How could he answer this question if he didn't know anybody's name? Maybe he could put Peach; he knew her name, but not much else...

"Hey, there!”

“Aah!” Lucas threw himself off the couch at the sudden outburst. Dazed, he looked up to see a confused kid hovering over him.

“Sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you...”

“No, it’s my fault...” He stood, rubbing his head. “I didn’t... see you there...”

“Aw, don’t worry about it.” He offered a hand. “Howzit?”

Unsure of his gesture and dialogue, he reluctantly offered a limp hand. "...Um, 'howzeet' to you, too...?"

Ness shook his hand like crazy, it being a limp fish in comparison. After an awkward pause and a forced laugh, Lucas returned to sitting on the couch, figuring that was the end of it.

Smiling, Ness joined him. "I like your hair. How'd you get it to stay like that? It's really cool."

Nervous, he inched away. "It's... always been like that..."

"Really? That's awesome!" He adjusted his red cap. "I wish my hair looked like that."

"Oh, it's... probably not that bad..."

"Nah, looks like a bird's nest up there... But enough about me, let's talk about you..." He looked at his name tag. "...Lucas. You look like a real stand-up kinda guy."

He frowned. "But I'm sitting down..."

"But you're sitting--? Oh, I get it! That's funny!" He laughed. "Real good stuff there."

"...?" Lucas obviously didn’t get it. Who was this guy?

"Yeah, but seriously, I'm stoked about the tournament." He fished a yo-yo out of his pocket and started doing the craziest tricks with it. "Whaddya about you?"

"Uh... I... guess it's cool..." He found it hard to answer with the yo-yo a blur in front of him.

...But seeing as he still had a paper to do, he shook it off and went back to worrying over it. Ness then noticed something sticking out of his pocket.

He pointed. "Hey, what's that thing?"

"This?” He looked down to see a small, reptilian head peeking out of his pocket. “It's a Rope Snake. You can hold onto stuff with it; thought it’d come in handy..."

"Really? Lemme see!”

“Uh--!" He didn’t have time to finish before Ness grabbed the thing and started swing it around.

"Here, you can look at my yo-yo if you want. I can tell you really like it."

Not having much of a choice, Lucas reluctantly accepted to yo-yo handed to him. He watched as Ness bounced the snake around, smacking various Smashers and laughing as they turned to scowl at him. He also took pleasure in grabbing snacks from the nearby refreshments table and flinging them at a bragging Marth, whose wrath was only held back by a humored Pit.

Figuring this exchange was a sign of good intentions, Lucas fumbled with the yo-yo, trying to imitate Ness’ prowess. Much to his dismay, the yo-yo simply refused to go where he wanted it to. If the string wasn’t getting tangled in his fingers, it was getting tangled within itself.

"...Urrrrgh!” he growled, sending the yo-yo sailing over Ness’ head, only for it to retract and fall dead on the couch. He blushed, embarrassed at his fit. “...I've never been good at this..."

"That's because you're doing it too hard," responded the other boy, now using the Rope Snake like a paddleball. "You're throwing the thing like you're scared of it. Here, lemme see."

Taking the yo-yo back, he showed off another display of his tricks and a simpler way of doing them. Lucas was just about to get the gist of it when Ness somehow lost focus and ended up smacking him in the nose.

His hands flew to his face. "Ow!"

"Ah! I'm sorry! That happens sometimes if I don't go fast enough... You okay?"

"Yeah, I've been hit with worse..." He checked his nose and hands for blood, luckily finding none. Then he smiled. "Uh, that thing could kill somebody."

"Well, it is kind of a weapon..."

His eyes widened. "...No wonder."

"Hey, Ness," called a kid in a parka as he came over. "What's up with ditching us like that, huh?"

"I didn’t ditch you, I just had to get ahold of this guy. Popo, this is Lucas," he introduced.

Popo laughed. “So, this is the late sleaze?"

The timid boy frowned. "Huh?"

Ness shook his head. "Nah, Pikachu was wrong. He's the exact opposite."

Almost on cue, Pikachu spotted the three and made his way over. ("Hiya, sleaze,") He joked, getting a scowl from Ness. ("...What?")

"Lucas, this is Pikachu, but watch out for him; he's got a bit of a swelled head..."

The mouse crossed his arms. ("There's difference between having a swelled head and having some dignity...”) His ears then perked up as he smiled. (“...But I’ve gotta admit, you have some rockin' hair.")

"Well, any good friend of Ness is a friend of mine." Popo shook Lucas’ hand. "By the way, ditto on the cool hair."

"I couldn't help but overhear your name's Lucas," came the voice of a girl. She looked just like Popo, except she was pink... and a girl. "Hi, I'm Nana. If you need any favors, feel free to ask! And did anyone ever tell you you've got the awesomest hair ever?"

Lucas gushed, her being the fourth one to say that. Did they really like his hair that much?

"Y'know, I think you're the first new friend we've made since this thing started," said Popo, sitting on the couch.

Ness shrugged. "Yeah, everyone’s so focused on the matches lately, they don't even try to make friends..."

("Unless they can throw a good punch,") finished Pikachu.

Lucas was shocked. “Friends? You mean... you actually wanna be friends? ...With me?”

"Sure! I'm friends with all these guys, and I don’t see why we can’t include you."

"Yeah! You're just our type!" said Popo.

"It’s good to have friends around here," added Nana. “It can help win a fight before it’s even been fought.”

Pikachu nodded. ("The good thing about this place is that everyone’s not as bad as they look. There're quite a few gems amongst the junk.")

For the first time since his arrival, Lucas smiled. He had no reason to be afraid anymore, as he was among friends. And it was easy to see they were tried-and-true; just the sort of thing he was looking for.

Ness began to work magic with the yo-yo again. “Well, like I was saying, here’s your basic form...”



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Mario counted through the pile of forms for the ninth time. “Okay, I just got one more from Pit, so that makes... 35?”

“I dunno.” Luigi shrugged, making his brother frown at his uselessness.

"Uh..." Peach shuffled through papers. "I think so. We might as well start this thing. The first match should be you vs. Kirby, so make sure you get that clear before we start a stampede..."

“Testing, testing... Hello?” Mario tapped a microphone, his voice echoing over an intercom. "Okay, everybody! We’ve got all the boring stuff out of the way, so the fights should be starting very soon!"

Luigi held up his megaphone. “Yeah! So are you ready?!”

He was answered by a numerous amount of yells and roars of excitement from the room of eager fighters.

"Okay! Then let's--!"

"Uh, Mario...?" Peach quickly tapped his shoulder, whispering in his ear.

"Huh? What do you mean we can't start yet?" he gasped, accidentally saying it over the intercom. His outburst was followed by various moans of protest.

“Sorry, sorry!” apologized Peach. “We just need one more form from... uh, Lucas? Has anyone seen him? Lucas? Little short kid? Looks like Ness?”

The Smashers only shrugged to one another with questions as to who this “Lucas” person was. Unbeknownst to them, he was too busy trying to walk the dog with Ness’ yo-yo to hear his name.

"So, you mean we can't fight simply because this Lucas refuses to show his face?" questioned Marth. "I’ve never heard of such idiocy!"

Meta Knight scowled. "I thought this was a serious competition, yet we continue to stand around doing nothing... Perhaps I should reconsider competing. I can see now things are about to get out of hand..."

Kirby did a double take. "What?! No! You'd promised you'd stay! You're the only one here who can make me look good!"

"Hey, what about me?" demanded Dedede. "You think just 'cuz I came for the food, I can't represent anybody?!"

"Please," scoffed Ike, pointing at Donkey Kong, "you couldn't represent that flea-infested monstrosity over there."

("What did you say--?!") grunted the ape.

Samus stood between the two. "Guys, stop it! You're acting like children!"

"And what's that supposed to mean?" the younger Link crossed his arms. "We don't act like that; we never act like that!"

Link shrugged. "It's just a figure of speech."

"Well, I find it very offensive..."

"You kids always complain about everything! I don't even know why a bunch of snotty-nosed runts are even in this thing!" growled Wario.

"Age has nothing to do with this, and you know it!"

Mr. Game and Watch rang his bell angrily.

"Hey! That was uncalled for!" snapped Peach.

"Who died and left you in charge?!" demanded Ganondorf.

Jigglypuff covered her ears. ("Why is everyone yelling?!")

Diddy bounced up and down angrily. ("And why aren’t we fighting yet?! C’mon! I wanna blow someone away! We've been waiting forever!”)

Luigi tried his best to break everyone up. "Okay, look! C'mon... Please work with us here. Uh, we're experiencing some technical difficulties, and... Um... Link, put that sword down, and uh... Lucario! Y-you stop glaring at Yoshi right now! No, Bowser! You put down that chair...!"

He soon realized his efforts were in vain as the nasty threats were slowly building into physical contact. Nearly everyone in the room was moments from punching, slicing, or zapping the nearest person into next week.

Donkey Kong pounded his chest. ("Why is it the pipsqueaks are always gettin' in the way?! Everyone knows this is all that Lucas guy's fault!")

"I say we find him and make him turn in that form!" demanded the Koopa King.

"Bowser's right! Either fight hard or go home!" yelled Wolf.

Mario waved his hands in defense. "Okay, okay! Look, if we could get you all to calm down, we'll try and resolve this matter as soon as possible--"

"That’s not good enough!" spat Falco. "You know how hard it is to be on leave from the StarFox team and still get paid?!"

"Yeah!" added Dedede. "If I wanted to sit around and do nothing, I could’ve done it at home!”

Ike waved his sword around. "He's right! Why, I've a good mind to leave!"

Zelda rolled her eyes. "So much for representing Roy..."

"I say we forget the loser and carry on anyway! If he's that much of a coward, we sure as heck don't need him here!" added Captain Falcon.

"But we can't start any battles until we have all the registration forms, regardless of if he wants to fight or not!" explained Peach, using her clipboard to shield herself from angrily-thrown swords and food. "It's Master Hand's rule! We have to have everyone's okay that we can brutally pummel them before we actually decide to do so!"

"Forget the rules! And enough of the delays! Let's stop yakking and let our fists do the talking! I didn't fly from halfway across the galaxy to stare at a bunch of ugly mugs!" continued Falco, glaring at Sonic.

"The only ugly mug around here is you!" retorted the hedgehog.

"What was that?!"

("I know! Let's send the cardboard box after him!") suggested Yoshi. (“If he can walk and talk, surely he can find the guy who did this!”)

("This is ridiculous!") snarled Lucario. ("My talent is being wasted here with these cretins! I refuse to partake of this event if bickering is all this tournament stands for!")

"The fuzzball's right," snorted Wolf, following. "If we're not getting serious about this, then I'm out. Thanks for nothing, Fox."

His rival’s eyes widened. “Me?! How’s this my fault?!”

"Uh, maybe we should go home..." sighed Red, eyeing Squirtle, who scratched its head. “Rules are rules, but if everyone's losing their heads over something like this, why bother?"

("Maybe next time...") shrugged Ivysaur.

Wario cracked his knuckles. “Well, when this Lucas finally does decide to show up, I’m gonna stuff that form down his throat and turn ‘em both in!”

...On the other side of the room, Lucas looked up in horror upon hearing this. The form! He’d forgotten all about it...!

Glancing past Ness, he noticed the Smashers were indeed getting riled up, ready to tear each other apart.

Such anger, such hostility... All because he forgot to turn in a paper? It might've been a fighting competition, but he thought it was just for show; that maybe everyone was all buddy-buddy afterwards...

Ness smirked, oblivious to his fear. "Hey, what's the matter with them? Run out of Super Mushrooms again?"

Popo crossed his arms. "Eh, who cares? They do stuff like this all the time. It's probably just 'cause they're bored."

Pikachu scratched his ear. ("True. I've seen worse.")

Lucas felt his heart skip a beat. They did stuff like all the time because they were bored?! And it's been worse?!

"...Uh, m-maybe it's because I didn't t-turn in my form..." he meekly ventured.

Ness made a face. "...Huh?"

Peach waved her hands for attention. "Listen, I understand everyone's a little upset from the delay, but we have to do this right!"

“Forget this! I could be busy plotting to take over the Mushroom Kingdom right now!” growled Bowser, turning to leave. “Call me when you decide to stop acting like a bunch of stuck-up, little twerps!”

Angrily stomping off, he was about to reach the door when he noticed a strange, blond kid sitting on a couch. Never seeing him before, he glanced at the name tag. Catching sight of his glaring, Lucas bit his lip.

"...Hey, wait a minute!" Bowser bellowed, slamming a foot into the floor.

"Oh, what?" Falco whipped around. "Now you're gonna delay us from being delayed?!"

Sonic sneered. "Yeah, and I thought you were leaving!”

"There's your culprit!” he said, pointing. "On the couch over there!"

Ike joined in pointing. "And look! He's got the registration form!"

Lucas blanched as Ness, Pikachu, and the Ice Climbers looked on in confusion. Nearly two dozen of the Smashers stomped over, hanging over them menacingly.

("Well, whaddya waiting for?! Go on and finish it so we can get started!") urged Diddy.

He blinked. "W-what? But I... uh..."

"Hmm," Marth took the paper from the terrified boy and read over it. "All he has to do is answer the last question, and the brawl shall begin!"

"Then, what's the holdup?" growled Wolf, snatching back the paper and forcing it into Lucas' chest. "Hurry up and answer the stupid thing!"

"B-but..."

("Finish it! C'mon, c'mon!”) nagged Charizard. (“We don't have all day!")

Link crossed his arms. “It can’t be that hard!”

Ness frowned. "Hey, lay off! He can do it when he's good and ready!"

Lucas lowered his head. “...Actually... I-I don’t think I can...”

“Whaddya you mean you don’t think you can?!” angrily repeated Ganondorf.

“You’d better, otherwise, we’re gonna have to substitute Sandbag for you!” threatened Falco.

“...H-huh?!” Lucas couldn’t believe what he was hearing. They wouldn’t...!

“Hey, that sounds like a good idea!” Dedede raised his mighty hammer and hit the back of Lucas’ head, making him fall flat on his face. “There! That oughta knock some sense into you!”

Not only was the blow to the head painful and the fall to the floor embarrassing, but the following laughter was downright degrading. Sitting up and tending to the throbbing in his head, the young boy began to sniffle, hot tears burning his eyes.

The penguin scoffed. “Oh, what? You’re crying, now? It was just a tap!”

“See? I knew inviting even more kids was a bad idea,” scoffed Marth to Bowser, who nodded.

“No, inviting crybabies was a bad idea!” laughed Wario.

Ike crossed his arms. “You’re not in the minor leagues anymore, kid. Get used to it.”

Falco narrowed his eyes. “Tell me you’re not serious. We’re way out of his league.”

Wolf chuckled. “Agreed. Whose idea was it to add this runt, anyway? Surely, we’ve could’ve done much better with our choices, people...”

Lucas was cowering on the floor now, crying his eyes out. He huddled together in shame, each insult worse than the last. He knew this was a bad idea... He should’ve just stayed home... They were right; he had no business being in a place like this...! He was a failure... A coward... A loser... Who’d ever think of standing up for a nobody like him...?

“PK Thunder!”

Everyone’s jeering abruptly stopped as the jolt of electricity stunned Bowser, throwing him into Wario, who created a chain reaction of everyone falling over themselves.

Standing up from the heap, Marth unsheathed his sword. “Urgh, Ness! Watch where you’re aiming! You could kill somebody with that!”

Instead of answering, Ness helped up the sobbing Lucas. "What is the matter with you guys?! I can't believe you'd all stoop so low!"

Sonic jumped up. “Whaddya mean?! If it’s anyone’s fault here, it should be blondie’s!”

Jigglypuff huffed angrily. (“Yeah! If you wanna shoot at anybody, give him a good zap so we can get it on already!”)

Mr. Game and Watch rang his bell in agreement.

"When I first joined this thing, I thought we were all in this together! We always have been in the past! I mean, sure, most of the time we're knocking the snot outta each other, but that's what brings us all together!"

("Oh, yeah?!") growled Donkey Kong.

"Yeah!" retorted the psychic, making him recoil. "C'mon, think about it! Where else would you ever see Mario and Bowser on the same team, or Fox and Wolf working together?!"

The red plumber and Koopa King glanced at each other, while Fox shrugged, Wolf's eyes shifting around the room.

"And what about Link and Ganondorf over there? Tell me that's not a miracle!"

"Well, it's not like we're friends, or anything..." snorted Ganondorf.

Link scowled. "Don't try to make me look like the bad guy! I just came 'cause I'm a representative; I have to be here!"

"That doesn't matter! Fighting's what brought us all together, and now that very same thing's tearing us all apart! And if that's how it's gonna be..." He crossed his arms in a huff, "then maybe neither of us should join!"

The room fell into a hushed silence as his words began to sink in. Veterans looked at Newcomers, animals looked at people, and friends looked at enemies. Even Lucas stopped sniveling during such an intense moment. Feet were shuffled, fingers were twiddled, and awkward coughs were uttered. After what seemed like forever, Lucario sighed loudly.

("...I hate to say it... but he's right.")

Pit shrugged. "I guess we did get a little carried away..."

"I think 'a little' might be an understatement," mused Meta Knight, despite being no part of it.

("Yeah...") sadly added Yoshi. ("We didn't mean any harm. Even the cardboard box is sorry.")

"...Urgh, what’s a guy gotta do to get some food around here...?" the box responded, a hand from underneath patting the refreshments table for cookies.

Peach crossed her arms. "You should all be ashamed of yourself for hassling poor, little Lucas here. Especially you other Newcomers! More shame on you!"

Wolf crossed his arms. "Kid just needs some more backbone. Either win big, or go home, and he's definitely not ready to win anything here."

Much to his surprise, his comment was frowned upon by everyone else, even the other villains.

"Hey, uh... sorry about that, Lucas. We're not usually this... grouchy," said Kirby, dusting him off.

Captain Falcon rubbed his head. "I think it's just the adrenaline pumping, y'know?"

"...Adrenaline or testosterone?" smugly added Samus, cutting her eyes at him.

Mario cleared his throat, eyeing each of the ashamed Smashers. "Well, it's obvious we all got off on the wrong foot here, so let's just save the fighting until tomorrow. I think we all need another day to... clear our minds."

Groans were uttered and grumbled, but a stern look from Ness quickly shut them up.

Luigi clapped his hands for attention. “Well, if everyone’s done making everyone else look like barbarians, I guess we could all just go to our rooms and beat up ourselves over this!”

Frowning, his brother handed him a box. “...Maybe you should just stick to handing out the items...”

Everyone began to disperse as Luigi was made to hand out all the supplies, schedules, and keys to the Smashers’ rooms, along with a scolding from Peach to those who’d harassed Lucas. The young Newcomer was still a little shaken up, watching everyone more carefully now. Everyone except the kid with the red hat...

"Hey there, buddy..." Popo put a hand on his shoulder, making him flinch. "You okay?"

Sniffling, he slowly nodded. "...Y-yeah..."

Ness scowled at a cross Wolf. "Don’t worry, just ignore them. They're a few sandwiches short of a picnic."

Lucas had no idea what going on a picnic with sandwiches had to do with raving mad fighters, but for fear of his safety, he decided not to ask.

“Well, now that that’s taken care of...” Nana dragged Popo off. “Let’s go to our room! I can’t wait to see how they refurnished it! You think they put in that automated ice-making machine we asked for last time?”

“The one that fires icicle missiles?! I hope so!"

(“I wonder what we’re having for lunch. Anyone get the menu...?”) asked Pikachu, following.

"Yeah, let's go. Since the fights are cancelled, you can finish that form when we get to our room,” said Ness, zipping off. “But if there’re bunk beds, dibs on top!”

He smiled at that, wiping away another tear. Finding a new friend in him was one thing, but getting to room with him was icing on the cake. With everyone leaving, he turned his attention to the crumpled piece of paper on the floor. At this point, it wasn't exactly the neatest thing he'd turn in, but it was still readable. He glanced over the last question; the one he thought he'd never be able to answer:

Is/Are there any specific partner(s) and/or friend(s) you'd prefer to ally with for Team Battles?

Picking up his discarded pen, Lucas realized he never did ask for the name of the red hat kid. Before he had a chance to ask, the name tag revealed itself as he got the key to their room; it was stuck on his backpack. With a smile, only one of many he'd come to share with him, he filled in the blank.

" Ness."