Chapter Four: the day before

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The heroes spent the next day was occupied in three groups. The pokemon and Yoshi frolicked amongst themselves and watched the other heroes; once, they attempted to recruit Kirby for their games, but he flatly denied them and continued training. He, Marth, Link, and Ness spent their time in the training grounds, practicing tumbling, targets, and speed. Zelda, Mario, Fox, and Samus remained on the grassy hill between their prison block and the training grounds, strategizing.

“It is unlikely that they brought my enemy here,” Samus reasoned. “The only enemy I have yet to thoroughly defeat is an entire race of energy-leeches. Given that our captor seems to be a creature of energy, it would be counterproductive to bring them here.”

“What about enemies you have thoroughly defeated?” Fox asked.

“Anyone out for revenge on you?” Zelda seconded.

She smirked. “A giant, bio-mechanical brain.”

Fox felt the blood in his veins go cold. “S… say again?”

She chuckled. “A brain, with cables to connect her to a computer interface, and a giant, lid-less eye.”

He ground his teeth, staring into nowhere for a moment.

She tipped her head to the side curiously. “Something wrong?”

“Nothing, I… I think we may be from the same dimension after all,” he explained, smiling a little. “My enemy, Doctor Andross, managed to put his consciousness into a giant bio-mechanical brain. He had two eyes, though. Fond of lasers.”

“Should we worry about running into this brain?” Zelda questioned. “Our captor said that he travels through time.”

Fox and Samus shook their heads simultaneously.

“Too huge,” Fox answered. “And too much of a bastard to work with anyone else.”

“The Mother Brain only works for the space pirates.”

Zelda hesitated, then nodded. “Just in case, what are their weak points.”

“Brain stem,” they answered simultaneously.

“How about your enemy?” Samus inquired.

“A brutish fellow by the name of Gannondorf,” she answered with more than a little venom. “He’s kidnapped me numerous times and tried to take the Tri-Force-- the sacred power of our kingdom. But Link stops him every time and together we put things right. He should be imprisoned in the Sacred Realm, now, but if the Hand travels through time, it would be possible to bring him here. He is tall, ugly, has a terrible fashion sense, and is rather fond of polymorphing himself into large beasts. He also throws energy spheres, and fights with a sword sometimes, though he is very bad at it. Especially compared to Link.”

Mario and Samus shared a knowing look.

“Mario--” Zelda frowned. “It seems wrong, to call one such as you by your first name.”

He regarded her sideways for a moment. “One such as me? What else woulda you like to call me?”

“Well, I sense in you a great deal of experience and wisdom,” she told him. “In our land, we would call you a sage.”

His eyebrows lifted considerably.

“I’m with Her Majesty,” Fox agreed. “We honour our veterans-- we call them Sir when we address them. And they get a half-price cup of coffee at pretty much every diner in the system.”

Samus sat back and smirked.

“I’m… I… Is it necessary?” He scratched the back of his head modestly.

“What is the word for wisdom in your language?” Zelda asked.

He was silent for a long time, looking as if he wanted to melt into the floor. “…Saggezza.”

“Saggezzio Mario,” Zelda pronounced in an official manner, with a gentle smile.

Mario blushed furiously. “Troppo, troppo…”

“Would you tell us about your enemy, Saggezzio?” she requested, getting his attention by taking his hand in both of hers.

“Sarei benedetti, principessa,” he stuttered, still blushing. “He… He is a large reptile with a spiked shell. He has, many times, kidnapped the princess of the kingdom I and my brother protect, but all in vain. He has many sons, and they do his bidding, but they are not very intelligent and are easily defeated with blunt force. My enemy-- he is the king of Koopas-- his shell is invulnerable, but the rest of him is susceptible to fire and bludgeoning. He is slow, but his strikes are powerful and he can crush a man with a single blow.” He paused for a moment, considering. “There may be a second enemy, a large ape with not very much of a brain. He is stupid, and slow, but he is strong and can take many blows.”

They all committed this information to memory. Mario prompted the next strategic topic. “He… It… has my princess, and my brother. Whom might they have, of yours?”

“I was the captive to be used against Link,” Zelda announced. “I saw many other prisoners, in the cell where I was kept. There was a bird-man with blue feathers, a boy with bright red hair garbed in a similar fashion to Marth, and…” Here, she turned to Mario. “And there was a woman wearing a crown and a pink dress, and a man in green who resembles you.” She paused for a moment to measure the effect. “ I am sorry, Saggezzio.”

Mario shook his head. “I could already have supposed that bastard would take everyone he could use against me.”

“Falco,” Fox confirmed. “They have Falco. He’s a teammate of mine. He’s like a brother to me-- an obnoxious, overbearing, arrogant brother, but still.”

“The boy must be some relation of Marth’s, or else a dear friend,” Zelda reasoned. “He did not speak at all. The bird-man Falco spent a great deal of his time shouting profanities for our captor to hear.”

Fox grinned in spite of the situation.

“Your princess and your brother, they stayed side-by-side. Both told me that you would come for them. They seemed certain.”

Mario smiled a tired smile. “Sempre. Always.”

“Three known villains, possibility of… six?” Samus tallied mentally. “Four non-combatants.”

“Falco’s not a non-combatant. He’ll fight if he gets the chance,” Fox corrected.

“Four incarcerated allies, then,” Samus amended. “There may or may not be a bye round if they throw our enemies into the mix, but for now there is no logical reason to include them. They will only be included if we threaten to not fight.”

“We have to get at the Hand,” Mario mused. “We have yet to see the terrain or conditions of the match, and there are no terms of the match, yet. We will have to take things as they come for the first round. Then, we will know better how to approach our enemy.”

The others nodded.

“What if we come up against one another?” Fox asked uneasily.

“There are heroes I will fight, and heroes I won’t,” Samus answered flatly. “I will not fight any of you, I will not fight Link, and I would prefer not to fight Kirby. The animals and Marth, I will defeat.”

“It will likely take all of us to defeat our captor,” Zelda warned. “I would prefer to fight no one.”

Samus rolled her mind’s eyes. “Necessity, my lady.”

“I would defeat the animals.”

“Am I amongst those?” Fox jabbed amiably.

“The small ones,” she corrected herself with a half-smile.

He nodded. “I guess I’m with you two. The animals and Marth.”

“And what if that is not an option?” Mario asked quietly.

They sat in silence for a long while, until Samus spoke up.

“I am not so very needed in my world anymore-- not so much as you sound like you are needed in yours. I will surrender with no contest, should I meet any of you, or Link.”

Fox nodded. “There are others who can take my place. I will surrender, but I’ll pretend a fight, so there is no reason to destroy my home, or kill Falco.”

“I will concede to anyone but the animals.” Zelda told them.

“This is morbid,” Fox protested, fidgeting.

“One of us has to survive long enough to get close to the Hand, and destroy him,” Samus pointed out. “All this conceding is nice and all, but we need to pick someone to keep above us all.”

Zelda immediately nominated her own. “Link. I trust that he can defeat this captor, given the chance.”

“Saggezzio,” Samus nominated. “Or myself. I have dealt with energy creatures before.”

“Link and Samus are good choices,” Mario agreed.

“If you make it to him… it… try and enlist the help of my teammate,” Fox advised Samus. “We have seen energy-based creatures, as well.”

Samus almost-smiled again. “Maybe we really are from the same dimension.”

“So, it’s settled,” Zelda stated. “If there are to be choices made, then they will be made in favor of Samus, Link, or Saggezzio Mario.”

“I am too old for this,” Mario protested.

“You have much to die for,” she pointed out, “if our captor seemed to think you would need so much impetus to live and fight.”

He sighed, then stood and walked away.

The others exchanged looks of determination.

At the training grounds, Marth, Kirby, and Link sparred harmlessly with each other, and trained in targets. Marth watched, fascinated, as Link switched weapons quickly.

“Why are you trained in so many weapons?” he asked as Link switched from bow to hook-shot. “You only need one to kill a man.”

Link shook his head with a wry smile. “One does not need a weapon to kill a man, only skill.” He shot a target, and disengaged the hook-shot before it could pull him to it.

Marth studied the ground intently for a moment. “We only need to kill one man.”

The other man said nothing.

“I… have considered all of the options,” he continued in Link’s silence. “I have no interest in harming those who do not threaten me. If you all are not willing to fight me, then I am not willing to fight you. I would like to free us all, rather than free only myself-- should the option exist.”

Link nodded, looped the hook-shot on his belt, then drew his boomerang and busted a target with it. He looked over to Marth, reaching up and catching his returning weapon without looking.

Marth met Link’s eyes for a moment, then looked away. “What shall we do?”

“Whatever Her Highness and the red man decide. My princess is a capable tactician and the red man has the experience and mind to deal with enemies such as this.”

He accepted this answer. “I will cooperate in any way necessary.”

“That will keep you alive longer, I think,” Link told him. “I get the feeling Samus has no intention of tolerating dissenters. You’re handy with that rapier.”

“Longsword,” Marth corrected somewhat indignantly.

“Hm. In my world, we would consider that a slauger-bladed rapier. This is a longsword.” Link drew the Master Sword and held it out.

He examined the weapon and begrudgingly smiled. “It is a good sword, in any case.”

“You’re good with it, in any case,” he admitted. “You’re quick, but you’re a little messy.”

“What do you mean?” the blue-clad warrior wondered.

“You swing through when you should stop, and you slash when you could do more with a thrust,” the green-clad warrior explained. “Hold it in supination, and extend all the way through your enemy. Don’t waste energy slashing.”

Thus was spent the better part of the day. Kirby soon became bored with targets and began to scrap with the animals, easily overpowering most of them. With a huff, he floated to the highest platform to keep watch. It was only when he floated down to interrupt them did Marth and Link stop their training.

Approaching them were Zelda, Samus, and Fox.

The two groups met on the grass.

“We have a plan,” Zelda announced.

A note from the author: Sorry for the unplanned hiatus. I relocated five states away from my original home, so things have been a little strange. I will be returning soon, but my internet access will be uncertain. Updates as I can.