Began Typing: 1:06 PM 6/15/2008 -

Uploaded: Much later

At Sixes and Sevens- Chapter 1 (Opportunus Ianua)

The man stalked down the large regal hallway, his large frame slightly stooped as his fingers caressed the bridge of his nose. Needless to say, it hurt. Damn straight it should hurt too. After all, he had walked blindly into a metal door. A non-stationary metal door with a large and irritable geruda throwing it open from the other side. He was merely unfortunate to be at the receiving end of the accelerating wall-o-doom. Now, instead of heading for the dining room like he had intended, he swerved en route to the bathroom. He was sure there would be a large red mark or two on his nose, but he figured he should check the damage anyways.

As he made his way down the hall, stumbling over the many vibrant rugs that loomed just out of his vision placed to cover the slippery tile, he was sure he saw an unfamiliar male elf adorned in a stupid green hat and a tunic in tights walk by laughing at him. At least he wasn't wearing a stupid hat and didn't serve Santa Claus year round... He smiled to himself, anxious to see the blond haired pixie again.

He shoved the swinging bathroom door open carelessly, meeting some resistance and an 'eep' of surprise, followed by a hiss of pain. He stuck his head through the small crack he had created moments before in the door. There was another male (surprise, men's restroom!) on the other side of the door with sapphire hair that rivaled his own. He was much more slender and wore an armor breastplate with a long cape draped over his shoulders, not unlike himself. The startling difference was how feminine the boy looked. He even topped this fact off with a golden tiara, complete with a small cobalt gem in the center. He seemed to be afflicted with the door-meets-nose syndrome. He himself had guessed it was contagious. "What'd YOU do?" He asked the new man.
He received nothing less thatn a glare in return. "YOU hit me with the door!" The cerulean eyes pierced him in anger.

He shrugged it off, throwing the door open fully, causing his new acquittance to hop back in surprise, only to avoid being hit by the door once again. The smaller male watched as he leaned over the sink, surveying any difference in his node, his hand clasped gently over his own. "Do you not have anything you would like to say?" He asked.

The man at the sink looked at him out of the corners of his eyes. "Yeah. The name's Ike."

"...My name is Marth...anything else?"

Ike shrugged. What'd this kid want from him anyways? Marth huffed, his shoulders heaving slightly as he turned and stormed out of the bathroom, a look of distaste carved on his face Apparently, he hadn't gotten it. Ike didn't quite understand. Then again, there were a lot of things he didn't understand and this one could be easily added to the pile. The last one was how did he end up jumping worlds. However, as far as he was concerned, it was unimportant. As long as he brought honor to the Greil Mercenaries, he didn't quite care. "Onward!" He cheered, throwing his fist in the air. "To victory!" His stomach grumbled in protest a moment afterward, he adding, "and dinner!"

A little later and somewhere else.

The monumental dining room table was impossibly large and held large reservoirs of food on its banks. It was only probable cause that he would end up across from the man who had hit him with a door just earlier and not apologized. He was not sure his appetite would stay with him much longer as the acclaimed slob shoved leg after leg of chicken into his gaping mouth while gasping for air. His eye twitched slightly. This man was disgusting.

It seemed that as he thought these words, Ike looked up at him. He extended a greasy chicken leg. "Whant fum?" He asked, food still half chewed and only partially in his mouth.
He jumped, slightly backing away. "No." He stated firmly.

"Suit yourself, princess."

Marth's eyes widened. "Excuse me?" It was all he could do not to grind his teeth together.

The man glanced up from his quickly emptying plate, eyes narrowing slightly. "What? Princess?"

Marth crossed his arms, leaning back in his chair with a distasteful huff. 'What an arrogant, self-centered, self-loving, ego-weilding, club slinging...' His thoughts trailed off, not deviating from this path as several people at the table glanced up at a piece of paper floating down from the ceiling towards the center of the table. A newcomer, an angel with unruly and spiky auburn hair with large feathery wings caught it, examining it closely. "What is it?" He questioned.

"It's probably tomorrow's battles!" Peach, a princess from the Mushroom kingdom cheered. "Open it, open it!"

Ike pried it rudely from Pit's hands, ripping the seam with his teeth. "Slob..." Marth mumbled under his breath.

Ike obviously heard it because he paused momentarily and glared at Marth before opening the letter. "Tomorrow's rounds will be team battles," He read aloud,"It'll be Ganondorf and Link vs. Peach and Zelda, Fox and Olimar vs. Falco and Yoshi..." He continued down the list, reading until the final match-ups. There were four people left, Donkey Kong, Bowser, Marth, and himself. He could almost hear Marth mentally praying he was with Bowser. "Bowser and Donkey Kong vs. Ike and Marth."

Everyone hopped to their feet and split off into their teams, likely going to practice. Everybody except Marth and Ike, that is. They sat at the table, still shooting dagger-glares at each other. Marth spoke first. "I do not like you."

Ike nearly grinned. "I don't like you much either."

"It is good to see the feeling is mutual. Let us just handle this like mature adults, agreed?"

"Sure, yeah, yeah..." He was already contemplating replacing his partner's mouthwash with ammonia anyways...

"Now, if we stick to a decisive battle strategy, we can be out of each other's way and still fight effectively. If we start off..."

Ike was only half listening, his feet propped up on the table. 'You don't need tactics to win,' He tought in a daze, 'just crush everyone before they can crush you. I don't see what he's so worked up about...' "Got it?"

"Yeah, yeah..." Soren would've killed him if he'd heard that monologue.

"Good. I look forward to seeing as little as possible of you until tomorrow. Good day."

Ike wanted to say something back, but the good lord had not blessed him with quick wit. He merely stumbled over his words as Marth disappeared into the extensive hallways beyond the dining room doors. "Argh! You're so... You...forget it!"

Ike couldn't help but hope Bowser have his new teammate a good pummeling tomorrow. He'd like to do it himself actually. Unfortunately, Ike's torment was not over. I'm not that merciful. After taking a quick swig of juice, he headed to the front desk to get his room key. The strange purple-shiny woman there waved as a greeting. No one expected her to say 'hello'. After all, she had no mouth. She waited patiently as Ike tried to figure out why she couldn't talk. Finally, to her relief, he stated his name. "I'm Ike." He stated, speaking slowly as if she was retarded or like she spoke a foreign language.

The faceless, if not irritable, wire frame of the female nodded and turned around, taking one of the one thousand new keys off its hook. She placed it on the counter, making a point to make the engraved number on the base as evident as possible. Ike squinted to see the triple digits. "110?" He asked, glancing around. "Where's that"

She merely pointed at at nearby map to answer. Ike flashed a swift smile, scooping the keys off the counter and into his palm. "Thanks!"

Ike headed off, following corridors, hallways, and even some staircases until he found a large oak door with the golden numbers 1, 1, 0 on it. He seized the knob and attempted to open it. Locked. He stuck the key in, turning it and hearing a satisfying CLICK as the tumblers fell into place. He pushed the door open roughly with his palm, glancing around.

The room was small, but he had expected less. There was just about one of everything: one full kitchen set, one desk, one dresser, one closet, one refrigerator, one large box with a reflective screen, and one bed. However, the last fact nagged at him. One bed. But it was a bunk bed. He could see certain imprints in the floor where furniture had once been, the actual furniture moved strategically about the room. The furniture must've been moved to open up access to the balcony. Funny...he didn't know they were upstairs. Ike could only come to one conclusion. He had a roommate. Well...that was his roomie's problem, 'cause he called the top bunk.

He ran over to the ladder, tossing his own satchel up. Just as his right fist grasped the fifth rung of the ladder, he heard footsteps halt in the doorway. "You have GOT to be kidding me..." A voice moaned.

What dumb luck. Now he was rooming with the princess. "I call top bunk." He stated simply, proceeding to climb up to the bed.

"Fine, fine. Suit yourself. I prefer the hallway anyways."

Marth walked over to the other bag, picking it up as if he were going to leave. Suddenly an intercom turned on and a booming voice called, "Hello? Is this thing working?...Ahem...For our first announcement, all smashers are required to stay in their assigned rooms. I repeat..."

Ike couldn't help but grin as Marth thumped his head against the wall gently, likely lamenting his misfortune. Marth turned abruptly and faced Ike, looking only slightly less than irritable. "What are the odds that announcement goes off now?"

Ike tried not to smile, but Marth already knew he was. He didn't seem to care. Marth replaced the bag in the corner and sat down at the chair to the desk. His head thumped slightly as he pressed it into his folded arms. Ike climbed down the ladder, thumping Marth on the back just hard enough to make his nose meet the wood. "Cheer up, roomie!" He stifled his laughter as Marth sat up and rubbed his nose. "Rooming with me won't be so bad!"

Marth sighed. "Fine, but we need some limitations. For one, keep your stuff off of my bed and the desk."

"Then keep your stuff off of MY bed AND the couch!"

Marth shook his head. "So be it. Whatever food we bring is our own, understand?"

Ike nodded. "Alright! Just stay out of my stuff!"

"I could say the same."

Ike turned his back to Marth. The princess irritated him to no end. The new roomies began to settle down in the room. Everything they hadn't already claimed, they split into twos. Marth occupied the left side of the dresser, Ike the right and so on. However, when they came to the large reflective box, they weren't sure how to divide it. "What IS it?" Ike poked the surface of the box curiously.

"I...I do not know." Marth grumbled, examining it closely. "For safety precautions, we should just leave it-! What are you doing!?"

Suddenly, the screen lit up with color, people on the inside. Marth hopped back in surprise while Ike only moved closer. "?" He shook the contraption slightly.

"Do not touch it!" Marth yelled. "Leave it alone!"

"No, i've got it, I swear!" Ike prodded the frame. Now the people were yelling.

Marth covered his ears, wincing. "Turn it off!" Marth screamed.

Finally, after several more attempts by Ike, the screen returned to its former darkened state, leaving Marth to sigh in relief. Ike glanced back at him. "I vote we leave the tiny people in the box alone."

Marth gave him a funny look. "What?"

"Well, they didn't like it when they touch their box!"

"Alright. I am going to bed, try to keep your idiocy to a minimum."

Ike made a face. "Yeah...well..." There was that quick wit again.

Marth, however, chose not to call him out on it. Ike figured he must be really tired, then. Ike stood and watched as Marth sat down at the foot of his own bed, taking the large gem off his cape and letting the cloth slide off. He reached behind himself and began to toil with the straps of his armor. He looked at Ike oddly. "What are you staring at?"

"I'm not sure." Ike teased.

Marth gave him a heavy glare, Ike feeling the temperature around him lower significantly. "Your dull-witted jokes are wasted on me, neanderthal."

The mercenary grinned. "Goodnight then, princess."

Marth fumed silently. What an ass! But he wouldn't let him ruin his battle tomorrow. He would need his rest. Marth left his tunic on, turning in the bed so he faced the wall. Ike simply smiled. He was sure going to have fun with the princess...

I know it doesn't seem like it, but this is an IkexMarth story. Does anyone get the title? It means 'Meet the door' in Latin. I figured is was appropriate. Does not own Fire Emblem, Super Smash Brothers Brawl (well...I have a COPY is that's what you're riding at), or anything belonging anywhere near, touching, under or within the overall reach of...Nintendo. I also do not own a television. Really. It's my parents'. I cannot spell today! The spell checker mocks me!