Chapter One

Welcome to the Brawl

The morning sun shone brightly across the grassy and expansive lawns of Smash Mansion. The dew drops gave the grass a shiny luster that seemed to complete the cool summer morning. A steep granite wall surrounded the expansive grounds which covered more than fifteen and a half acres. The front yard had a gravel roundabout that allowed for vehicles to simultaneously turn around and to pull up to the front of the house. In the center of this roundabout stood a tall statue of Oceanus, who stood erected in a large fountain that sprayed it's water in a spiral pattern towards him. The dew laden lawn in the back of the house was spotted with shady trees and a large greenhouse that provided vegetables for the kitchen. The west side of the house had an opening in it's wall where a steel gate stood. Past this gate was a comfortable dirt path that led it's way through tall coastal grasses down to a private beach which was reserved for the residents of the mansion. The beach was as longer than the acres of the mansion were expansive and it was lined with beautiful, blue, tropical waters that shifted lazily in the morning breeze. On the east side of the house was another greenhouse like structure, but this structure housed an indoor pool. A glass sliding door led out from the pool onto a brick patio which eventually met a small hot tub built under a gazebo.

Then there was the mansion itself, which was built in Neo-Victorian style. It had a large brick and marble porch that made a checkered pattern by alternating the use of the marble bricks and clay bricks. Each step however was made up of one material oppose to the porch which was made of both materials. The top-most step was made out of marble and the step below that one was made of brick and so on and so forth until the bottom step which was made of brick. The porch had an intricately carved oak awning that was supported with hickory beams; both shined to a high luster in the sunlight. The porch was also encircled with a hickory fence which curved outwards slightly in a nicely carved stylistic manner. To the west corner of the porch was a octagonal deck made of oak that fused nicely with porch and fence which encircled it as well. Above this deck was an octagonal room that was lined with windows. It also had a cone shaped roof. At the east corner of the porch, a tall stone tower stood which also had a cone roof and many windows aligning it. This was clearly some kind of lounging area because the windows clearly showed the room to have nothing but a fully laden bookshelf, two big armchairs, and a small nightstand with a lamp on top of it. The west side of the house had a balcony that was carved right out of the house oppose to being built suspended on the outside. It had a brick wall, built to look like Gothic battlements and had a smooth stone floor. It had no awning but it did have a large beach umbrella positioned above two long pool chairs. The east side of the house was unremarkable except for the fact that the roof of the house seemed to slant and fuse with the glass roof of the pool room. The back of the house had a more expansive balcony of a similar nature to the one on the west side. It had a small koi pond in the very center of the balcony where a Korean black koi and Japanese orange koi swam peacefully in circles. On the west side of this balcony there was a small outdoor table and a grill with a tarp hanging over it. The east side of the balcony was shaded with a red, tarp awning and had several lounging chairs positioned around a medium sized table. Directly in between the koi pond and the wall of the house was a bar with bottles of every assortment of drinks behind it. The bar was made of brick and granite, and utilized the slanted roof of the house as an awning.

At this very moment the steel gates of the mansion swung open smoothly to admit two large party buses which made there way somewhat precariously around the gravel roundabouts. They both stopped equal distances from the porch and the doors opened. As the bus doors opened so did the front door of the mansion and several men, uniformly dressed in red/purple; linen and silk, stepped out to open to luggage compartment of the buses. As the staff began to carry luggage from the buses, temporally depositing it on the porch several people, creatures, and who knows what began to get off the buses. This included a rather short, plump man in blue overalls and red hat speaking in rapid Italian to his companion who was much taller and thinner; wearing the same thing with the exception that he had a green hat. Then came a tall elf with blond hair and blue eyes clad in green. He had a long rather threatening looking sword and a green pointed hat that swayed in the breeze. He was shooting rather venomous looks at a dark red haired man dressed in black desert clothes and a black cape. This man seemed rather indifferent to the looks he was getting from the elf. A small cartooned version of the elf hoped off the bus and looked around apparently confused at what was going on as the elf and the dark man were silently daring each other to enter the house first; neither of them wanting to turn their back on the other. The cartooned version of the elf ran into the house, blissfully ignorant of the tension in the area. A woman who also looked rather elvish stepped of the bus and scoffed as she looked between the elf and the dark man. She was wearing a tall white and pink dress that had a certain amount of elegance to it.

"Save it for the tournament Link." The woman said to the elf, apparently fully aware of the tension between the two.

The dark man scoffed at this and made his way to the door.

As soon as he had left the tension seemed to cease and more an more people piled off the two buses.

"Did you hear that scoff, he thinks I'm weak because you were consoling me." The elf said.

"Just shut up Link, it's been a long journey."

A man in a military outfit and a rather stern face came off the bus followed by a woman in blue body suit. Everyone began to make their way inside and then off one bus came a blue avian with red feathers around his blue eyes; shortly followed by a light orange vulpine with a white stripe of fur that went from the top of his head down the back of it disappearing under his shirt at the back of his neck. On the other bus a tall tough looking lupine stepped off. He had thick gray fur and obviously styled, short, white, mohawk. His entire appearance seemed greatly complemented by his visible purple eye, with the other hiding behind an eye patch. The lupine looked briefly at the avian and vulpine and acting as though he did not see them proceeded inside.

"Come on, we'd better go inside." The vulpine said.

The avian simply nodded.

"Falco, try your best to ignore Wolf; okay?" The vulpine continued as they proceeded inside.

Falco nodded and said.

"We'll have to won't we?"

The vulpine nodded as they entered the entrance hall of the mansion.

Carved plaster adorned the ceiling with Gaelic designs. Quite ironically an English style chandelier hung from the center of the domed ceilings next to the Gaelic carvings. The chandelier was about the size of a small car and from it hung an array of blue and white crystals. With silver branches reaching out to suspend light bulbs atop silver electronic candles. The floor was made of marble though the entrances into different rooms in the house had carpeted thresholds. A dark green carpet ran from the entrance down two steps onto the main floor of the entrance hall and up a tall mahogany stair case that stood facing new entrees to the house. The walls were lined with mahogany and plaster, the top half being plaster. The mahogany around the entrance was carved to give one the impression that they were walking through a gate and that the door to the house was there as some kind of formality and the gate was the true entrance of the house. It certainly felt like that, as soon as one stepped through the door they were in what felt like a small coat room and as soon as the stepped through the mahogany gate and down the two steps to the main floor they were truly in the house. Several busts of different Greek gods looked down at them from the intricately carved, mahogany door posts leading to different rooms. As if silently indicating the purpose of each room. The staff were rushing up and down the stairs as a supervisor checked the flow of the luggage with a list in his hand. As soon as the staff were finished and the doors closed a booming voice echoed through the hall, the voice seemed to immediately cease all idle chatter.

"Thank you, one and all for coming to Smash Mansion, as you veterans know there are no actual reception formalities and you may enjoy the rest of your day however you please. You may use any of the mansion's luxurious accommodations or go out to the town nearby for many tourism benefits of all kinds. Everyone has been given a roommate, please proceed up the stairs and a staff member shall give you the appropriate key; you do not need to do this right away although I suggest you do, if just so the said staff member can take his break. I sincerely hope you enjoy yourself and the upcoming tournament next week."

With that said the booming voice stopped and many of the newcomers were looking around for the source of the voice but they couldn't find it anywhere.

The majority of the people began to make their way up the stairs to be given their room key, half of these people made their way towards their room while other proceeded back downstairs. The vulpine and his companion Falco made their way upstairs where they were both given different room keys, they looked at each others' room keys groaning slightly as they saw the tags indicated different rooms.

"Oh well, how bad can it be? I'm going to head to my room and see who my roommate is if he shows up." The vulpine said.

"Alright Fox; I'm gonna do the same." Falco said quickly as he asked the staff member for a map.

The staff member looked briefly between Falco and Fox and pulled two maps for each of them from a shelf in his podium. Fox studied the map and saw that the way their rooms were positioned Falco's room was on the other side of the mansion from his. 'Oh well' he thought as he said a brief goodbye to Falco. He made his way across the east indoor balcony that led into the east wing. He looked over the balcony briefly and had a glance of the entrance hall, which still had people congregating in it. He pressed on down a mahogany hallway lined with oak doors with small golden numbers on them.

"Number nine..." Fox muttered to himself seeing it was on the third floor, so he would have to go to end of this hallway and climb the spiral stair case to the third floor.

Falco's room was on the second floor on the in the west wing. Fox got to the top of the stairs to find room number nine directly next to the stairs. He opened the door with his key and walked in. It was a comfortable medium sized room with a king sized bed in the middle of the room and alpaca carpeting on the floor. A HDTV was mounted on the wall facing the bed and a minibar sat in the far corner of the room. The room was lit with a stylistic chandelier and a large bay window that gave a view of the backyard. The bay window was expansive, stretching out like a balcony with a small arm chair facing outwards from it. A desk with a computer set up on top of it sat next to the bed. A nightstand stood on the other sized of the bed and one door lay opened to a white marble bathroom. Another door on the other side of the room next to the minibar also stood open with Wolf standing in it, staring at Fox.

Fox rechecked his map to make sure he was in the right room and found no point in denying it he was paired up with Wolf as a roommate. Wolf apparently disappeared through the door he was standing in; into his room to check the same thing on the map. When he reappeared he said nothing at first then finally he said.

"So were roommates?" He said

"Looks like it."

"Well... See ya." Wolf said quickly making his way towards the door Fox however blocked his way.

"What are you doing Fox?" Wolf snarled as he made to push past Fox.

"If were going to be stuck together for the length of this tournament we might as well start learning to get along right now."

Wolf seemed inclined to protest but after several moments he seemed to reconsider.

"What did you have in mind?"

"Me and Falco are going to hit the town later tonight you wanna come? If we can get some conversation going I bet we could get tensions low."

Again Wolf was silent and then he finally gave his answer.

"Fine but until tonight I'm going to look around at these luxurious accommodations this place apparently provides."

"Gyms in the basement." Fox said half reading Wolf's mind.

"Thanks" Wolf muttered as he pushed past Fox and exited the room.

Fox sat on his bed wondering why he had asked Wolf to hang out with him and Falco. He guessed he sort of felt sorry for Wolf; he was half convinced that Wolf would have difficulty getting along with the other residents of Smash mansion. He called up Falco and gave him the news that he had invited Wolf along with them. Falco was nonplussed but he accepted it, saying that he wasn't responsible for anything Wolf did. Fox looked in the cabinet below the TV to find Wii. Fox sighed, he didn't mind the Gamecube they got last tournament, but he wasn't the biggest fan of Nintendo's new console. Luckily he had brought his 360 with him, he'd figured he'd hook it up later. It was a nice day out and the beach was beckoning to him. He quickly got changed and headed out towards the beach, deciding he would unpack his bag later.

The day seemed to pass quickly at the beach. Fox was watching the sun set from the beach. He had spent pretty much the entire day hanging out on the beach with the elvish princess from earlier; Zelda, Link and two newcomers; a blue hedgehog who looked hard to catch easy to fight named Sonic and a blue and black humanoid dog like creature apparently named Lucario. Lucario ignored pretty much everyone else on the beach and sat meditating, so Fox didn't get any chance to speak to him. When he finished meditating he headed back to the mansion without any word. Sonic had also left earlier say he was going to test the gym's treadmills. This left Zelda, Link and Fox. A thought just occurred to Fox, why had he not thought of it sooner.

"I have a question." Fox said.

Both Link and Zelda looked up to listen.

"Ganandorf doesn't get along with you very well does he." Link and Zelda both looked downcast.

"No." Zelda said bitterly.

"Do you ever manage to get along during the tournament?"

"No." Link answered.

"Why?" Zelda asked.

"No reason, I gotta go though see ya." Fox said taking off as fast as he dared to avoid any suspicion.

He reached his room to find it empty he quickly changed out of his bathing suit and showered all the sand and sea salt from his fur in the bathroom. He dried off and slipped into something more comfortable for a quick nap. He had another hour before he had to meet Falco and Wolf.

He wasn't sure how long he slept but he was awoken by Wolf who had entered the room. Fox sat up and saw that it was Wolf. He made to go back to sleep but Wolf said.

"You should get ready to go."

Fox looked at the clock and saw that Wolf was right, for once almost grateful for his presence.

Wolf had obviously spent the day in the gym. Wolf began to strip from his sweaty clothes and Fox seemed to freeze midway in getting up. Wolf's chest was extremely muscular and was complimented by his well toned abs. He turned around to throw his clothes in the hamper, giving Fox an unceremonious look at his strong back which was accented by his spine and shoulder blades. Wolf's arms were also a sight to behold, with biceps like medium potatoes and triceps that gave his arms a rugged muscular look. His forearms were also unusually thick despite the limited muscles in the forearm. All in all his arms were very muscular. Wolf at this point had bent over to remove his pants leaving him standing there with nothing but boxer briefs. His legs, like his arms, were well accented with muscles; though they were logically much thicker than his arms. Everything from his tight thighs to his muscular calves seemed attractive. Not to mention his package which lay hidden underneath his boxer briefs, but its size was anything but hidden. As Wolf deposited his pants into the hamper as well he gave fox yet another peak at his backside, this time his lower backside. Fox quickly turned away as Wolf turned around not wanting to seem like he was staring.

"Well hurry up!" Wolf snarled.

Fox nodded and clambered out of bed.

He was about to get dressed when he remembered Wolf was in the room. He wouldn't have minded before, but now he felt as though his body was inadequate in some way; in comparison to Wolf's. He didn't want Wolf to see his body all of a sudden because he felt like Wolf would immediately compare his body to his standards which seemed much higher than Fox's by the look of Wolf's body. Why he cared if Wolf did judge his body he did not really understand, he just wanted wolf out of the room.

"Umm... Say Wolf?" Fox asked somewhat timidly.

"What?"

"Could you possibly leave the room?" Fox said, glad his voice sounded a bit more confident despite his mouth being quite dry.

As soon as he asked this question he knew it was a wrong move with Wolf. He smiled jeeringly and said.

"Shy are ya?" He said laughing slightly. "That's alright, I'll just turn around and look in this mirror giving me a perfect view of the room."

"Why did I bother..." Fox muttered to himself grabbing some clothes and walking into the bathroom locking the door behind him.

"Aw come on Fox, it was a joke; I was going to leave the room in the end."

However Fox barely registered these words as he took off his clothes and looked at himself in the mirror.

He was barely comparable to Wolf. He had a much more lithe almost feminine figure. He was never more self conscious about his body. Around Krystal his body was more masculine by practical default and he needn't worry about it.

He had a lightly toned chest and a two-pack, which could probably be a six-pack with work he didn't have the discipline for. His arms were thin, lithe, but still muscular. And his legs were of a similar nature. Although his body was indeed eye-candy, in his mind he managed convince himself that his body wasn't worth anything compared to Wolf's, starting to forget to ask himself why he even cared.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door which made Fox jump slightly.

"Fox you done getting dressed? I've been sweating all day and I'd like a shower."

"Yeah just a sec." Fox said glad his voice sounded controlled as he fumbled into his jeans.

He put on a silver studded punk belt and an Underarmor shirt. He then threw on an American Eagle shirt, leaving it open in the front. The shirt had a design of a Chinese dragon over the right shoulder blade. This was probably Fox's favorite thing about this tournament; being able to wear whatever he wanted. He was practically on vacation. He then opened the door to find Wolf still standing there waiting patiently.

"Thanks." Wolf said as he entered the bathroom.

Fox gave Wolf's amazing body a last fleeting glimpse as the bathroom door closed.

Fox quickly put his Converse shoes on, fitted his wrist with a watch, and a applied a scentless deodorant. Meanwhile water was running in the bathroom and a light amount of steam was issuing from underneath the door. Fox figured he would head down to meet Falco, but first he wanted to make sure Wolf knew where to find them.

"I'm heading down to Falco, Wolf. I put my cell number on your night table if you can't find us." Fox called through the door.

"Alright." He heard Wolf reply as he wrote his number down and placed it on Wolf's nightstand.

He left the room and went downstairs to meet Falco. He found Falco waiting in the entrance hall at the bottom of the steps.

"Wheres Wolf?" Falco asked.

"He'll be ready soon."

Falco nodded and they stood in silence for several more moments, then finally Falco spoke.

"What do you think?"

"Of what?"

"Wolf! What else?"

"Oh... Well what do you mean what do I think?"

"Well how have you two been getting along and do you think he might ruin this evening?"

Fox was taken somewhat off guard by this question, he actually thought it might have been an enjoyable evening.

After all Wolf had been acting in a fairly friendly matter. He looked up at Falco who was waiting determinedly for Fox's answer.

"I think if we just give him a chance then things will be fine."

Falco simply nodded as Wolf appeared at the top of the stairs.

He was wearing a pair of black jeans and a T-shirt with a heading that read "Turbulent Echoes" it was accompanied by a picture of what appeared to be a rock band and the back had a skeleton hand giving a peace sign. He walked down and greeted both Fox and Falco in turn.

"Hey, so where are we going?" Wolf asked them.

"We were just going to go down and shop around and then get something to eat." Fox responded.

"Alright let's go." Wolf said as they clambered outside.

"By the way, how are we getting into the town?" Wolf asked as they stepped off the porch.

"A limo service is provided to participants in the tournament where ever they want to go." Fox responded as Falco started talking with a Mansion staff hand who was talking to a limo driver over his phone.

Within minutes the gates swung open and a limousine glided gracefully around the roundabout stopping in front of the trio.

They climbed inside and Wolf closed the doors behind them and took his seat opposite Fox with Falco sitting between them. There was a long awkward silence as the Limo drove away into the night finally broken by Fox.

"So Wolf, what do you think of Smash Mansion?" Fox asked

"It's alright I guess."

Fox cringed inwardly at his stumbling attempt at a conversation.

"Alright? Smash Mansion is awesome, I always look forward to these tournaments; even if I lose." Falco said.

Wolf smiled slightly and Falco went into various details about Smash Mansion.

As Falco finished speaking the awkward silence seemed to have lightened and Wolf began to recount various entertaining stories of his friends and himself as the Limo pulled up to the town. Fox was the first to notice this and climbed out of the limo, beckoning the other two.

The town had a very distinct, coastal feel. It had crisscrossing cobblestone and concrete roads. And every building seemed to be a shop. Chinese style lanterns hung from ropes suspended between the rafters of the buildings. Then there were the dozens of people bustling back an forth in and out of stores.

Falco led the two through the streets, they stopped in various stores that looked interesting; mostly window shopping. Fox was glad that tensions between Falco and Wolf were so low, in fact they seemed to be getting along very well. Wolf and Falco kept passing jokes between each other and acting in the the rather immature nature that was usually reserved for good college friends. At the moment they were walking through the streets talking, not in their previous immature pursuits but instead about music. Falco had brought it up when he asked about Wolf's shirt. Wolf was now explaining some other bands he liked.

"Steppenwolf is also good, they have a few good songs aside from Born to be Wild. I think it sucks that that song is more well known then the band that made it."

Falco and Fox were both paying attention, Wolf seemed to be some kind of rock/metal guru.

He seemed to have a habit of bringing up artists that people only knew for their most famous hits. Neither Falco nor Fox ever heard of the people Wolf brought up but they wrote and composed some of the most famous single hits in their time before disappearing from public attention. Like George Thorogood, who wrote Bad to the Bone. Along with single hit artists such as these Wolf was also a big fan of every heavy rock band and metal group on the side of the planet. Not to mention the groups from Lylat he liked. He seemed to cover every planet as far as music was concerned.

Fox was genuinely surprised, you'd think being such a music freak would be a more obvious part of a person's personality; but it seemed Wolf kept this well hidden from his enemies and rivals somehow. Falco seemed to be able to follow the discussion on Led Zeppelin that Wolf gave, but Fox was completely lost. He recognized some of the names brought up but had little to offer to the conversation after that.

Finally Fox decided it was time to get something to eat and they all silently agreed, stepping into a sushi restaurant. They were lucky to be seated quickly and they began to look through the menus, as a waiter brought hot, wet, washcloths for their hands and faces. Probably the most refreshing thing about traditional Japanese restaurants was walking in after a long day and rubbing your face with a hot, wet washcloth. They placed the cloths on the small plate they came on and the waiter took them to be washed for future customers.

They ordered a large plate of of Chef's specialty sushi to see what the chef would surprise them with. Then Fox ordered miso soup and so did Falco; but Wolf asked for an octopi salad as an appetizer. Fox thought about Wolf's body, and thought that his diet must also be part of his secret. Fox hastily changed his order. Wolf told the other two that he would pay for all the drinks and Falco gleefully asked for sake. Wolf ordered plum wine and then turned to Fox.

"What will you be drinking?" He asked.

"I'm good with water." Fox said somewhat shyly.

"Aww, come on Fox; name whatever you want and I'll get you as many rounds of it as you want."

"No I'm fine really."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, thanks anyway though."

Falco whispered something in Wolf's ear and Fox knew Falco was telling Wolf how bad he was at holding his liquor.

Fox felt his cheeks burn red, and he buried his face in his menu to hide it from the other two. Wolf nodded and turned back to the menu obviously trying to give no indication of knowing the information on Fox; Falco just given him. There was a brief silence and then the waiter brought them their food. Fox looked down at the bowl with baby octopi that had been brought to him. He tasted one of the rubbery creatures and it was pretty good, so he began eating the rest graciously as Falco and Wolf worked on their own food. Next their drinks and sushi was brought to them, and the rest of the evening rolled on cheerfully. Wolf drinking a rather absurd amount getting a bit drunk and Falco getting a bit tipsy.

After paying Fox had to help Wolf outside by himself since Falco wasn't going to be much help despite not being completely plastered.

"And they say I can't hold my liquor..." Fox mutters to himself as he helps Wolf to his feet and begins to lead him to the door.

"Ey, Fox."

"Hi Wolf." Fox answers somewhat dismissively.

"Did anyone, ever tell you that your hot?"

Fox blushed slightly and answered.

"It might have came up somewhere."

"Well that's cool, cause I certainly think so."

Fox didn't say anything, he knew it was just the liquor talking but even so.

Falco was waiting outside and no one seemed to notice the drunken conversation between Fox and Wolf as they stumbled out the door. Wolf was already half draped over Fox and he felt Wolf's head fall to rest on Fox's shoulder; rubbing against his neck.

"You smell nice Fox."

Fox blushed slightly glad Falco didn't seem to notice as they made their way back to the limo.

"That's nice." Fox said simply.

"Mmmm." Wolf groaned slightly as Fox led him into the limo seating Wolf down before sitting down himself.

Falco shortly followed them into the limo closing the door behind him. The limo driver took of towards Smash Mansion. Where Falco assured Fox he could get up the stairs fine. So Fox then attended to Wolf helping him out of the Limo and up to the porch. He then led Wolf up the mahogany staircase and then up the spiral one at the end of the hall. Tired from half dragging Wolf up a hundred stairs or so he unlocked the door and brought Wolf into his room, which was exactly like Fox's aside from the bay window. He placed Wolf on his bed and turned to leave, but felt someone grab him around the waist and pull him into Wolf's bed.

"Ack, Wolf what the hell?" Fox half yelled as Wolf rolled over on top of Fox.

"You sure are hot." Wolf said ignoring Fox's protests.

Fox blushed heavily and felt his voice shake slightly.

"W-wolf, please g-get off m-me."

"Mmmm." Wolf moaned burying his head in Fox's neck.

Fox blushed as he slowly tried to climb out from underneath Wolf who seemed to have forgotten he was there for the time being.

However just as Fox moved Wolf's left arm, Wolf sprung into sudden action, replanting himself on top of Fox more securely. Without even waiting for Fox to say anything, Wolf kissed him passionately. It was a sloppy drunken kiss; that made Fox drunk from the smell of it. However there was still a warmth shared in it and Fox felt himself grow hot, turned on by the kiss. The kiss stopped after a minute or so and Wolf reburied his head in Fox's neck, his drunken mind apparently intending to do more but before it could; it fell asleep.

Fox waited a few moments to be absolutely sure that he was asleep. If he was, the alcohol would keep him knocked out. When he was confidant enough he rolled Wolf over onto his back and climbed out of Wolf's bed. Feeling rather hot from the kiss Fox exited Wolf's room, closing the door behind him. He quickly changed and got into his own bed, after turning the AC on; hoping to cool down a bit. He lied there awake for hours which incidentally was about as long it took for the AC to cool him down the way it cooled the room down in minutes.