Smash King24's Christmas Contest 2014

Author's Note: Sorry for the long wait everyone. I'd like to announce that the final results have come in and the winners of the contest have been determined! I know it's a little bit later than what I said in the last chapter, but better late than never I suppose. Let me just give you a brief rundown of how this is going to work. The chapter below is written to coincide with the previous chapters in this story. It is also here where I will announce the winners of the contest. If, however, you just want to see who won, you are free to skip all the way to the bottom and read the other author's note. I encourage you to continue reading the chapter as it is if you want there to be some sort of drama or suspense, but then again, it's been a pretty long wait hasn't it? Regardless, I still need to post the chapter, so without further ado, let's get on with the show!

In about twenty minutes, the mansion's auditorium was filled to the brim with fighters and Assist Trophies alike! Luigi had done a fantastic job at rounding everyone up, although he would admit that he did have a little help from Sonic the Hedgehog. The excitement never seemed to die down as people constantly whispered and murmured to each about who they think won the contest. Near the back of the room, a certain Lord of Evil and his minions were seating themselves behind Bowser and his underlings. Meanwhile, Captain Falcon and Robin were busy shoving each other in the front row trying to snag a seat next to Lucina. Pokemon characters typically stuck close together, and even Pit and his darker counterpart had taken the liberty of manning the spotlights on the upper platforms.

Smash King took note of all these things and more as he poked his head out nervously from behind the curtain. He mostly had his attention turned towards Ganondorf, knowing full well that the Gerudo King was indeed not one of the winners in the contest. Crazy Hand, who was also standing by behind the curtain, couldn't help but notice the shorter author's distress.

"Are you feeling good? You don't look so good," said the floating hand. "And that's no good. Do you need a cracker?"

"No thanks, Crazy," replied the author as he pulled away from the curtain. "I'm just… a little nervous."

"Well don't be nervous! Whenever I feel nervous about something, I dance! And usually that makes it go away." He proceeded to pulling off some cool dance moves, or as cool as a giant disembodied hand could dance anyway. "Come on! Dance with me!"

"I don't know about this…" replied Smash sheepishly.

"Just do it!" He grabbed the shorter character with his large fingers and stared spinning him around. "Do a little dance! Make a little love! Get down tonight!"

"Whoa!" Smash King found himself rapidly spinning around on his toes and bumping into Mr. Game and Watch who was in charge of the other curtain. The 2D man ended up just sighing to himself, but jumping to attention at the sound of the Super Smash Bros. announcer's voice booming over the auditorium, along with a dramatic drumroll compliments of Donkey Kong.

"Ladies and gentlemen! The Super Smash Brothers would like to announce the winners of this year's Fanfiction Christmas Contest!" said the familiar male voice. "Please give a round of applause for our special host… Smash King24!"

The audience started clapping and cheering, causing Crazy Hand to almost lose his balance.

"Oh! It's show time!" he exclaimed, dashing to the other side of the stage and tugging on the ropes. Mr. Game and Watch started pulling from his end as well, and soon the curtains started parting. Pit and Dark Pit began shooting their spotlights all over the place as the crowd cheered, but all the excitement immediately died down when the lights landed on Smash King, who was standing in a daze in the middle of the stage. Behind him, the audience could see a small table with trophies, which they presumed to be the actual awards for the contest. There was some awkward silence for a few seconds before an obnoxious F-Zero racer hollered from the audience, "Hey Smash! This isn't nap time!"

Smash King jumped at attention, blinking in confusion under the heat of the spotlights before realizing where he was. He quickly shuffled up to the microphone.

"Oh, um good afternoon Smashers and Assist Trophies of the Super Smash Bros.!" he began. "Welcome to this year's Christmas Contest… um… Award Ceremony! I am pleased to announce that I have the winners of the contest right here within this very envelope!" He produced a small envelope from out of nowhere with the Smash Ball symbol emblemized in the center. Upon seeing the envelope, Captain Falcon smacked Robin on the back with a cheeky grin on his face.

"Get ready to fork over the cash wise-guy," he said with a smirk. Apparently, the two had made a bet with each other over who would win.

"It's unfortunate how mistaken you are," replied the tactician calmly. "Smash has always been one to tip the scales."

"He better not be! This contest was judged fair and square! Uh, right Smash King?"

"Let me assure you all first and foremost," said Smash, indirectly acknowledging the racer's statement, "that all of the judges for this contest had to follow a strict marking scheme for the grading. This is something new that I implemented this year in order to see if it yielded more accurate results."

"Ha! You see!?" shouted Falcon from the audience.

"In all honesty I think the results are more accurate, but by the same token, using this kind of grading scheme actually takes up a lot more time and effort. Therefore if I ever do another contest again, chances are I won't be using this kind of system. It's definitely a step-up from how the stories were graded in the 2009 contest though, so at least we're on the right track." Small chatting and murmuring started occurring between the audience members again, but was ceased when Smash cleared his throat. "Okay! Well now that that's out of the way, let's get on to the winners, shall we?"

He tore open the envelope and started skimming over the parchment's content. A few Smashers in the audience started getting a little excited again, and even Pit could barely contain himself when the spotlight started jittering back and forth slightly.

"I'm going to be announcing the winners of the Junior Division first, followed by the Senior Division," said Smash. "Just so everyone knows, the Junior Division was meant for author's ranging from ages 13 to 16, and the Senior Division was for those who were 17 and up. The theme of the contest was to write a Christmas story about some 'true meaning of Christmas' that the authors had to discover for themselves. I will announce the third place winner first, followed by the second place winner and so on. At the end, I will also announce the 'honorable mentions', or the stories that came close to getting the gold, but fell just a teensy bit short. Anyways…"

He cleared his throat yet again, reading over the letter.

"Our first story," he began, "begins with a certain Ylissean princess who has no concept of what Christmas actually is. She hears a lot of tales from her fellow Smashers, but overall, the very meaning of what the holidays are about escapes her, and so she makes it her number one priority this year to learn all she can about Christmas… or what it means to her anyway. She gets a lot of ideas over the course of the story from talking to her friends, such as the Hero-King Marth, or moody-boy Roy. In the end, she realizes that Christmas isn't about getting gifts, or eating food, or any of that material stuff. All she wants is to be with her friends, the very people who have helped her grow and train as a newcomer in the Smash Bros. A simply engaging story from beginning to end, I am happy to announce the third place winner of the Junior Division! Please give it up for My Gender is Armin Arlert and her charming story, 'Joyeux Noel!'"

Lucina quickly stood up and accepted the award on behalf of the author, while Robin and Falcon just sat there with their mouths almost hitting the floor. The swordswoman graciously accepted the Christmas tree-shaped trophy and stepped up to the microphone.

"It is an honor to be here with you," she said with a smile. "I am certain that Armin gives her regards as well. Thank you all for making this Christmas a truly memorable one!"

She soon sat down, while Smash King prepared for the next winner of the Junior Division.

"Our next story is tale about a certain Smash Bros. character who never seems to get any love from fanfiction authors these days. It follows the story about a concerned friend, wanting to learn more about a tragic series of unfortunate events that befell a certain mustached doctor in a white lab coat at some point in his mysterious past. Thanks to the power of an enchanted snowflake, our hero warps through time and space itself in search of the real reason why Dr. Mario is such a sourpuss around Christmas time. With a little help from his friends, Pac-Man pulls through with a life-changing message at the end of the story, teaching the good doctor that the smallest of actions can always make the biggest of impacts on someone else's life. Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to announce the second place winner of the Junior Division! Please give a round of applause for Circuit's Dead and his heartwarming tale, 'The Paper Snowflake!'"

A round of applause boomed over the audience as Pac-Man and stood up and made their way onto the stage. The author shook hands with both of the Smashers before presenting them with a silver trophy. The trophy itself had a metallic snowflake on top, which Pac-Man proudly presented to the audience while Dr. Mario took a hold of the microphone.

"On behalf of Circuit's Dead, we'd just like to say thank you all so much! And we hope you all have a merry Christmas!" he said.

"Christmas is over you twat!" hollered Falcon from the front row.

The two Smashers quickly took their seats, and the next thing anyone knew, Smash King was onto the final winner.

"Our final story!" he said dramatically. "Or should I say, the winner of the Junior Division Christmas Contest, goes out to a story that serves as a true testament to the thought that no matter where you are, you will always be connected to the people you care about in one way or another. Upon reading this story, we learn about a boy named Ness who finds himself feeling apathetic towards the holidays, having to spend it with a bunch of Smashers as opposed to his loving family back home. He learns that some of his friends, such as Pikachu and Megaman, also share this feeling of apathy in one way or another, as they realize that Christmas truly means nothing unless they have their family with them. As if by some Christmas miracle, the friends learn that the part of home that they long for is always within them, or at least in the form of some ornaments that hide some sort of deeper meaning to them. A simple mellow tale with a surprisingly heartwarming ending, I am proud to announce the first place winner of the Junior Division! Ladies and gentlemen, please give a round of applause for Twilight Joltik and her tear-jerking story, 'Ornamental Apathy!'"

The audience hollered and hooted while Ness got up and took the stage. He gave a silly bow, happily accepting the gold trophy, which had an assortment of decorations on it like a sunflower, Pokeball, and an eggplant.

"I… I really don't know what to say," he said into the microphone. "Um… On behalf of Twilight Joltik, thanks for everything! And happy holidays!"

"The holidays are over you Irish bug!" shouted Falcon obnoxiously. Lucina immediately jabbed him in the side to shut him up.

As Ness flew back to his seat, Smash King took the microphone in his hands.

"That about wraps things up for the Junior Division," he said. "But I'd like to take the time right now to give some honorable mentions. Honorable mentions include prowessMaster's 'Christmas Cheer?', warriorcatgirl375's 'A Single Christmas Cookie', AwesomeDuskAngel's 'An Owner For Christmas', Dapper Dee VI's 'What is this 'Christmas'?', and WR3000's 'A not so cliché holiday! (SSB)' for all coming very close to winning! Every story that was submitted for this division was simply amazing, and I can honestly say that I've never read so many creative and awesome stories before in my life! Please give a final round of applause for all of our contestants for the Junior Division!"

More applause erupted from the audience as expected. Ganondorf remained patiently at the back of the room with his arms crossed. He knew very well that he wouldn't be winning the Junior Division since he himself was not within the required age gap. The Senior Division however, well, he was pretty much banking on that as his ticket to winning this thing.

"Alright, now it's time to move on to the Senior Division," said Smash as he continued reading the note in his hands. "Our first story of the Senior Division turns out to be another story about Lucina. However, the story does not revolve around Lucina trying to find the true meaning of Christmas so much as it is about the Ylissean princess trying to prevent a catastrophic event from destroying the holidays. In the beginning of the tale, she has a vision of the future, depicting what appears to be a horrifying turn of events unfolding Christmas morning as toys mutate into monsters attacking children. With the help of her trusted friend Shulk, along with a mysterious ornament the two were able to pull out of a dream, the friends band together on a quest to stop the unthinkable from happening. More or less, they venture to the mall in search of presents that would make the holidays truly happy for the Smashers. They meet a lot of interesting characters along the way, such as the fruit-hungry Yoshi and the superstore cashier Captain Falcon, but ultimately Lucina ends up getting consumed by the holiday spirit. She tries so hard and so desperately to make Christmas perfect that she almost neglects the people around her. With the help of her friends, she comes to the realization that all she wanted to do was the make Christmas special for the children, and in return is given something that means more to her than anything in the world. I am happy to announce the third place winner of the Senior Division. Please give a round of applause for mystic moogle and her humorous and charming tale, 'The Bonds We Forge!'"

Shulk and Lucina both stood up, making their way to the stage to accept the award. Captain Falcon seemed disheartened to say the least.

"Hey I was in that story too!" he exclaimed. "Don't I get an award?"

"You're not a main character," whispered Marth from the seat behind him.

"Wow, thank you so much everyone," said Shulk as he and Lucina held up a trophy depicting a Christmas angel on the top.

"It's embarrassing to have to accept two awards…" muttered the swordswoman sheepishly.

"Nonsense!" said Smash King. "This award is really for mystic moogle anyway. You guys just have the honor of accepting it on her behalf!"

"Thanks a lot Smash King."

With that, the two Smashers walked off, and Smash King was soon on to the next winner of the Senior Division.

"Our next story comes from an author who puts every Smash Bros. character in the heart of her story," said Smash. "From each and every color of the rainbow we are given a series of small stories about what Christmas means to every Smasher. From Mario to Meta Knight, if you have a favorite character, you can definitely find it here, and it turns out that Christmas has so many meanings, it's nearly impossible to go over all of them at once! We are given a brief backstory about every character, small glimpses into their history and what memorable pastime they relate the holidays to. Of course, everyone has their fair share of life lessons in here, and you would be crazy not to sit down and read a segment about your favorite character. At this moment, I would like to announce the second place winner for the Senior Division! Give it up for Child at Heart Forever and her cleverly-written story, 'Variegated Christmas!'"

Captain Falcon immediately darted onto the stage, snatching the rainbow-shaped trophy and holding it high above his head.

"Thank you all!" he shouted. "I don't know how I could have done it without you!"

"Um, Falcon," muttered Smash King. "That award should be accepted by all of the Smashers equally since all of you were main characters of the story."

Most of the audience frowned in the F-Zero racer's direction while Lucina chuckled and Robin shook his head disappointedly. Ganondorf just scoffed. Captain Falcon shrunk down in embarrassment, but still ended up having the guts to speak into the microphone.

"Hehheh. What I meant to say was, Child at Heart Forever is grateful probably at a loss for words," he said quickly. "She says thank you to everyone!"

He quickly dashed off, leaving Smash alone in the spotlight. The author took a deep breath, glancing at Ganondorf at the back of room who stared back with menacing red eyes. Needless to say, the short author let out an audible gulp.

"Moving on," said Smash as he tried to regain his composure. "It's time to announce the final winner of the Senior Division." He took a deep breath. "Our last story follows the life of a certain mushroom princess and how she spends her time with the Smashers during the holidays. All throughout the course of the story, we are given bits and pieces of Princess Peach's background through the use of personal letters she writes to Mario, who is unfortunately away during the holiday season. The pink princess herself doesn't seem to be as cheerful as most may think, probably due to the fact that she has to spend Christmas away from her fiancé for a change. This, of course, does not stop the Smashers' enthusiasm. From Christmas carols to Christmas tree cutting to Santa costume designing, Peach sees it all, and unknowingly ends up retaining some of that Christmas spirit within herself. The clever characterization, along with the charming storytelling methods and original plot, definitely makes this a classic in the SSB Christmas archives. Ladies and gentlemen, I would now like to take this time to announce the winner of the Senior Division. It is with great honor that I award concisponci and her amazing tale, 'The Art of Christmas,' first place in this year's Christmas Contest!"

The audience exploded in applause as Princess Peach and her plumber hero took the stage, accepting the award, which happened to be in the shape of a star.

"Oh my gosh, I can't believe we won!" said Peach excitedly into the microphone. "Thank you all so much and merry Christmas!"

"We'd like to thank everyone, as well as concisponci for writing such a great story," chimed Mario. "Have a happy new year!"

They eventually took their seats, and the audience was still in an excited state, but quieted down when Smash took the mic again.

"Honorable mentions for the Senior Division include MahNati's 'Little Ghost', Tune4Toons' 'Battery Life', MessengerOfDreams' 'first breath in a second life', Flame Falcon's 'Holiday Treats', Lady Paprika's 'Café de la Smash', Lizardon the Dragon's 'Above All Else', GintaxAlvissForever's 'Snowy Night Galaxy', and bladewielder05's 'Christmas Fools, the Angel Twice Sings'. There were so many simply marvelous stories that deciding a winner was almost impossible! Thank you to all of the contestants for submitting their stories! Let's give all the contest participants a final round of applause!"

Surprisingly, everyone was cool with applauding, although a certain Gerudo King wasn't looking too happy at the back of the room.

"Alright, so I guess that about wraps it up for this year's contest," said Smash King with a sigh of relief. He was actually starting to sweat from standing under the heat of the light for so long. "Before we close, I'd just like to give a final thanks to the judges, AuraChannelerChris, Souldin, and pokemonrhoades for helping to make this whole event possible. I'll be lucky if I ever get to host another contest like this again, let alone with such brilliant minds and creators. If you guys need some refreshments, I had the Waddle Dees set up some tables in the foyer. Thank you all again for attending… and have a happy new year I guess!"

The Smashers began to file out and make their way to the lobby or wherever else they planned to go. After the curtains closed, Crazy Hand ran up to the author and patted him on the back.

"Great job!" said the floating hand. "You got over your nervous…ness. I told you dancing would help!"

"It barely helped me," replied Smash with a laugh. "But thanks anyway."

"Smash King, may I have a word with you?" The author froze on the spot, turning his attention towards Ganondorf who had somehow materialized behind the stage. He had his arms crossed and he still had that menacing look in his eyes. "I thought we had an agreement?"

Smash King held his ground and tried his best to speak back to the Lord of Evil.

"T-The agreement's off, Ganondorf," he replied with a stutter. "The contest was judged fair and square, and those authors deserved the awards they got. To let you win just wouldn't be fair to them."

The Gerudo King cracked his knuckles as a flaming ember rose from his right arm.

"Very well then," he said darkly. "I shall try to make your death as slow and painful as humanly possible."

Just as he was about to slam his fist down, his attack was quickly blocked by Captain Falcon and Robin who had just appeared in the nick of time.

"Not today Ganondorf!" said the F-Zero captain. "Why don't you pick on somebody your own size?"

"Lest we tip the scales at you!" threatened Robin as he wielded the Levin Sword.

"Seriously, is that the only thing you know how to say?" muttered Falcon.

"You fools," said the Gerudo King in annoyance. "Get out of my way!"

"Don't worry, Smash King," said Robin, glancing back at the author. "We'll handle this guy. You just get out of here and get back to writing 'It Came from Lucina's Head.'"

"Well, gee, thanks," replied Smash shaking his head. He wasn't how to take the tactician's statement. He soon fled the scene as the three Smashers began duking it out. Crazy Hand and Mr. Game and Watch observed from the sidelines with a bag of popcorn. Things didn't end up turning out great however, as both Robin and Falcon were beaten to a pulp in a matter of minutes, while Smash King was stopped by Master Han who immediately banished him from the mansion so he could never host another contest again. And then the last Metroid was in captivity and the galaxy was finally at peace… for now…

Author's Note: Yeah, I got real lazy with that ending, but who cares since this is about the contest and not the story. SO! For those of you who missed it, here are the final results for the Christmas contest!

Junior Division:

Third place: My Gender is Armin Arlert, Joyeux Noel

Second place: Circuit's Dead, The Paper Snowflake

First place: Twilight Joltik, Ornamental Apathy

Honorable mentions: prowessMaster, Christmas Cheer?; warriorcatgirl375, A Single Christmas Cookie; AwesomeDuskAngel, An Owner For Christmas; Dapper Dee VI, What is this 'Christmas'?; WR3000, A not so cliché holiday! (SSB).

Senior Division:

Third place: mystic moogle, The Bonds We Forge

Second place: Child at Heart Forever, Variegated Christmas

First place: concisponci, The Art of Christmas

Honorable mentions: MahNati, Little Ghost; Tune4Toons, Battery Life; MessengerOfDreams, first breath in a second life; Flame Falcon, Holiday Treats; Lady Paprika, Café de la Smash; Lizardon the Dragon, Above All Else; GintaxAlvissForever, Snowy Night Galaxy; bladewielder05, Christmas Fools, the Angel Twice Sings.

As I mentioned in the chapter, there was a full marking scheme used this time around for judging stories, so if you're interested in learning your mark, you are free to PM me and ask. I'm not going to post them anywhere just to keep things confidential, so if you want to know how you did, then just let me know one on one.

If you are a winner in one of the divisions, please notify me via either review or PM that you've read this chapter. From there, we can discuss the Pokemon prizes. Also, if you won, you are free to add this achievement to your list of fanfiction achievements or whatever on your profile. Any authors who won the contest shall have their profile and story linked on my own profile.

Finally, if anyone has any questions about ANYTHING regarding this contest and the way in which it was graded, scheduled, organized, etc, please feel free to let me know. If you have any suggestions for what could be changed about this contest to improve on for next time, then you're also free to shout it out if you think it's necessary. Organizing this thing took surprisingly a lot of work, and I'm sure I can speak for the other judges when I say that we're all pretty tuckered out after running this event.

And… that's it I think. Thank you all to everyone who participated in the contest (competing, judging, or otherwise) and I hope you all enjoyed it! If you see me hosting another one of these things, chances are it won't be for another Christmas one. I can't say what it will be next time (if there is a next time), but I guess for now we can only hope for the best. Adios amigos!