Fan Fiction / Fire Emblem Fan Fiction / Fire Emblem Fan Fiction / Pokemon Fan Fiction / Pokemon Fan Fiction ❯ Empty Hand Loser ❯ the left hand ( Chapter 5 )

Disclaimer: The following contains characters and concepts that are NOT the property of the author. They are the intellectual property of Nintendo, HAL Laboratories and their associates. The author has received NO monetary benefit from this piece of shit.

Warnings: mature themes, violence, offensive language, implied homosexuality, minor bigotry.

Chapter 5

Samus

There was no one to greet her when she arrived. Duffle bag in hand, she let herself in through the front door, into the main lobby. The large house seemed mostly quiet. But Samus could hear the distant sound of hammering.

She followed the noise to the gallery, where the master's collection of trophies was stored and displayed. There she found that major construction efforts were underway. Clad in white workers' aprons and gloves, Peach, Zelda and Marth were in the process of cleaning and repairing the displays. Peach noticed her first.

"Samus!" she cried from where she was dusting off a fire flower trophy. The other two turned toward the doorway. Marth was polishing a display case, and Zelda had been trying to pound a nail into the floor.

"Hey." Samus offered a hasty bow in the presence of royalty. "What are you guys doing?"

"Oh, just some cleaning that's been overdue," Peach answered. She made her way over, duster in hand. "How are you? Have you come to visit with us for a while?"

"Yeah. I'm putting myself on vacation."

"Have you been sick?"

"Not really," Samus admitted with a slight laugh. "I'm just taking a break from work." She glanced around the room. "What's been going on here? Besides the remodeling."

"It's the off-season," Marth offered. "So it's been pretty quiet."

"Yes!" Peach chimed in. "Almost too quiet. Everyone's gone off to handle their own business."

"Is no one staying here?" Samus asked, feeling odd.

"Well, Ness and Young Link are here most nights," Peach said. She tapped her finger against her cheek, thinking. "There's the Ice Climbers and the Pokemon."

"Ganondorf is here," Marth added.

"Bowser and Donkey Kong and Yoshi…no, Yoshi went with Mario and Luigi…"

Samus passed her eyes over the three of them. Something was wrong here. One crown and two tiaras, alone in a house with some kids, pocket monsters and an evil Gerudo. "The master?" she asked.

Peach's reply was erased by heavy pounding as Zelda hammered the nail all the way into the floor. Samus watched her as she stood up, straightening her aprong. "The master comes and goes," Zelda said curtly. "We rarely see him for any significant amount of time."

The princess seemed subdued. This was nothing new. During their recent correspondences, Zelda had never seemed happy. Now, knowing she had the power to change this, Samus told herself to be patient, to wait for a private moment alone with the Hylian princess. Nodding, she turned to Peach. "What about Mario and Luigi?"

"It's the start of the racing season," the princess explained. "They're out touring right now."

"Oh," Samus said. They had to make money somehow. But the situation still didn't seem right to her. "No wonder no one's here to help you guys."

"It's all right," Peach proclaimed, hands on her hips. "We're fairly self-sufficient."

Marth's smile was a little strained.

"I didn't mean to imply otherwise," Samus said.

"Well then." Peach tucked the duster into an apron pocket and clasped her hands together. "Shall I show you to your room?"

"I'll do it," Zelda cut in. She set down the hammer and removed her apron.

"All right," Peach agreed. "Now I'll have one more person to cook for. I'm expecting you to join us for dinner, Ms. Aran."

"Of course," the bounty hunter replied with a sincere smile. Then she turned and followed Zelda out the door.

The walk down the corridor was silent, Samus entirely aware that her eyes memorized the way Zelda moved ahead of her, that well-bred grace and subtle elegance. Her gut clenched. She remembered the letter in her pocket.

"You're lucky," Zelda said, opening a door. "We just cleaned these rooms the other day."

Samus stepped inside and dumped her bag onto the bed. Half-heartedly, she gave the room a quick visual inspection. More silence settled between them. Finally, Zelda turned to leave. "Let me know should you need anything."

"Wait." Samus reached into her jacket pocket. "I have something for you, princess." She withdrew the small white envelope and passed it gently into Zelda's hands.

"What is it?"

"Open it."

As Zelda worked open the envelope and pulled out the note, Samus couldn't help the grin that broke across her face. Zelda's eyes grew wide. "Is this…?"

"He should arrive later today," Samus said gently. Zelda looked at her, teary-eyed. Samus waited for it.

"Thank you, Samus. Thank you."

Then… There. That smile. That made it worth the trouble.

Peach

She's happy, Peach thought, as Zelda glided back into the gallery. The Hylian princess was smiling, a simple and content smile. She danced.

"Zelda…?" Peach ventured carefully. "Something's happened, hasn't it?"

In response, Zelda only giggled. Peach exchanged curious looks with Marth. Then, before she could say anything else, Zelda had linked arms with her on side and with Marth on the other. Zelda drew all three of them together.

"Read this…" She passed a note to Marth.

His eyes fell over the words. Then he seemed stunned. "You've heard from him," he murmured softly.

Peach threw her arms around Zelda's neck. "Yay! Zelda! I'm so happy for you!"

"I'm happy too," Zelda managed in a whisper.

Master

The streets were busy by the time I got out. Business traffic, for the most part. I tried to avoid getting jostled by briefcases and shoulder bags as I moved through the crowds, hunched over in a black coat, hands in pockets. Pichu sat, perched on top of my shoulder. He seemed to enjoy the view from up there, even though I ignored him. I had other things on my mind.

Up ahead, the park came into view, and I trudged toward it.

It had been a long time since I last came here. It used to be that I was always here. Empty swings; empty slides and play bars. No one came here for the sand pit. That was just decoration. It was the game tables that were always full. Today, the crowd consisted mostly of older men playing cards, chess or checkers. Traditional games were back in style again. None of new gaming fads occupied the tables. No battle monsters or robots. Nothing fancy. This place had turned into an old-timer's home somehow.

One table was occupied by a fox-girl playing chess with a Toad. I stood by and watched. Her right hand grasped the bench where she sat while the left moved pieces on the board. Her concentration was entirely on the game, but once, I saw her eyes glance in my direction. She seemed the fight off a smirk, and then lazily waited for Toad to make his next move.

His white knight captured her black bishop. After a moment, I realized that Toad had lost. He realized it too, when she moved her rook. "Game," I murmured.

"Check."

He cursed. She smiled. Cocky, as always.

He ran his eyes over the board one more time to made sure. "Good game," he said half-heartedly over a handshake. Then he left, and I took his seat. Her eyes were laughing at me.

"Well, what's this?" she said. "I haven't seen you in forever. I thought you must have died and someone forgot to tell me."

"Hello, Crazy."

"Where the hell have you been?"

"Here and there."

"Doing what?"

I shrugged. This disturbed Pichu, who leapt for the more stable ground of the table between us.

"Pissing around," she answered for me. "I know how you are."

"What have you been doing?" I countered.

She held up both hands and made sweeping gestures around her. "This is what I do."

"Then I see we're on the same level."

She threw her head back and laughed. It wasn't a harsh laugh, but it wasn't innocent either. Our meetings had a way of getting bittersweet pretty quickly. "That's where you're wrong!" she declared with a wide grin. "I am superior to you in all ways imaginable."

"Right," I murmured with sarcasm.

"Admit it," she said. "There's only one genius in the family, and it's me."

I sighed, drumming my fingers on the tabletop. Pichu rubbed his ears and beamed at the both of us. Crazy reached over to pat him on the head.

"Rivalry never gets old, does it?" I said.

Crazy shook her head, cuddling Pichu in her lap. "No," she said flatly.

We'd fought over toys since we were kids. Back then, we only had one game deck, one set of controls. So we used to play as a team, she on the left controller, me on the right. It was lucky we weren't both right-handed. Together, we battled on the Net that way, as a pair. All our victories and defeats were shared, until Tournament Royale, when we managed to win a separate deck as a prize. The partnership divided after that.

Since then, Crazy still played single-handedly, with one glove. It became her trademark.

"I don't ever see you online anymore," she was saying now. "I thought you were done with gaming. Ever since the Melee Championship, and that was two years ago."

I said nothing.

"I thought this was something you actually enjoyed. What happened?"

"Life happened."

She glared at me over Pichu's head. She knew exactly what I was talking about. "Goddamnit. You're an idiot."

"Maybe," I agreed.

"Maybe? Maybe it's time you forgot about her."

Again, I said nothing.

"How long does it fucking take?"

Ignoring the question, I keyed through the boards, switching the tabletop from chess to checkers, to poker…. "I didn't come here to discuss the past," I murmured.

"Then why are you here?"

I finally settled on a board. "I came to challenge you to a match."

That got her interest immediately. She straightened up. "What game?"

"Something simple and quick," I said, calling up cards through the tabletop. "How about blackjack?"

"Okay." She eyed me warily. "What for?"

"We'll make it interesting." I stared down at the deck of cards. This had been a long time in coming.

Crazy watched me carefully. "What are you thinking?" she demanded.

I cut the deck. "Tell me when to stop," I said. My voice was low. "The prize is my house. Winner takes all."

Samus

Some things in life weren't fair, she thought. This was one of those things.

Before her, Zelda stood alone in the moon-drenched terrace, overlooking the hill. Samus tried to think of something to say, but couldn't. Instead, she allowed the sound of her boots, crunching on gravel, to announce her approach. Dressed in icy blue, pale and ethereal, Zelda was watching the stars.

"It's getting late," Samus finally said.

No response.

Samus tried something else. "I'm sure he had a good reason…" Zelda turned around then, and the look in her eyes stopped the bounty hunter from continuing further.

"I know," the princess said. Samus couldn't tell if that reluctant smile was a lie. "I know there are more important things in the world than my own selfish desires."

Link had some explaining to do, Samus thought. "Who knows?" she said, trying to formulate excuses for him. "Maybe he was on his way over here when a cat got stuck in a tree, or some farmer lost her chickens, or those cow-abducting aliens showed up and some villagers needed his help-"

Zelda surprised her by latching onto her arm. "Walk with me," she said abruptly.

They took the gravel path that wound around the manor house, their way lit by small ground lamps. The trees stood like skeletal figures. Without the Mario brothers, the upkeep of the garden had been slacking. But Peach had recently pledged herself to the maintenance of the yard, and her efforts showed in the leaves swept off the path, the continuous chain of glowing lights.

Zelda's presence on the bounty hunter's arm was slight, but difficult to ignore. The princess was lost in her own thoughts, and Samus didn't feel like breaking the silence between them. She knew that her company was not the one Zelda wanted. But somehow, playing the role of the substitute didn't seem all that bad. She tried to come up with words of comfort-don't worry, it's not so bad, it could be worse, at least you're not in Marth's position-and failed. So they continued in silence.

Samus looked up when Zelda stopped. They stood in front of the large stone well in the backyard. Samus noticed that a thick circle of wood had been laid across the opening with rocks piled on top of it. Zelda broke away to walk up to the structure and place her hand on top of the cover.

"He has yet to return home after so long," she mused. "But I feel that you have come in his place."

"I don't think I can replace the Hero of Time," Samus said.

"No. But you are a legend in your own right."

"And so are you," Samus replied, realizing that her voice had turned softer. She stared at the pile of rocks. "Zelda…" The princess turned. "Why is the well covered?"

Zelda didn't answer immediately. Silence lapsed between them. And then, from the depths below them, came a strange sound, like metal grinding metal. It took a moment for Samus to recognize it as seering shriek. Then something slammed into the cover of the well from below, thudding dully against wood, shaking the rocks that kept the cover from lifting.

"Zelda…" Samus stepped forward. The princess hadn't reacted to the sounds, to the dull pounding. "Be careful." Samus had to take her by the arm to draw her back from the well. "What was that?"

"We have an infestation problem," Zelda said simply.

"What kind of an infestation problem?"

"A few days ago, three of them managed to break through the barrier and enter the house. We were able to dispose of them, but Ness has been having nightmares, and whenever Young Link sees one he freezes." She looked up at Samus. "No matter how many we kill, they keep coming back. If we fail to tackle the problem at its source, they will come again." Her eyes fell. "I know I've asked favors of you before. I know you came here to rest. However…"

"No," Samus interrupted gently. "I understand. I'll help." She had a duty, even if it was as Link's replacement.

Zelda seemed relieved. "Thank you," she said at length. "Tomorrow then, you and I, we hunt the re-dead."