Warning: There will be YAOI scenes and noncon!

Ike arrived at the famous stadium of the Smash Bros. Brawl tournament. His trusty sword over his shoulder and a large bag of belongings on the other, he gazed up at the impressive structure, taken in by the vast arena. It was quiet now, but he could already imagine the crowds cheering in excitement and the combatants battling amongst themselves, striving to strike the other one out and be the last one standing.

Ike grinned, already feeling the adrenaline pumping through his veins. He could smell the previous challenges in the air. What a great day it was to be here. Holding up the letter in his hand, he read the invitation once more before looking up and heading towards one of the doors to a structure attached to the arena.

Entering through the "Combatants Only" doors, Ike arrived at a large, marble lobby. His mouth gaped in awe at the beautifully designed interior, the impressive architecture and statues nearly as impressive as the ones in the castles he has seen back in his homeland. No wonder his friend, the prince Marth, was always raving about this place.

Speaking of his friend…

"Ike!"

The blue-haired mercenary looked up to see the prince approach him, still clothed in his royal garb like always.

"Marth," Ike smiled, embracing his long-time friend.

"I trust that your journey here went well."

"Well, I encountered a few…nuances along the way, but they were easily taken care of," Ike smirked, patting his trusty sword.

Marth chuckled. "I see. Always the reckless one as usual. But please, allow me to escort you to the registration room so that you can get that taken care of and drop off your bags with the servicemen."

Ike lifted an eyebrow. "My, is the prince actually going to escort me, a lowly man? What has the place done to you?"

Marth smirked back. "It's not like you were ever respectful towards the royal bloodline to begin with. Now come, we must go."

As Marth walked off, Ike called out, "Hey, I resent that! I've been nice to you, haven't I?" And the blue-haired mercenary quickly followed after his friend.

Ike was certainly struck with awe and amazement by his destination. Just two weeks ago, he had received a letter inviting him to become one of the new combatants at the arena. He was surprised upon receiving the notice, but apparently the prince had bragged about him to the organizers of the tournament, and subsequently they felt it was necessary to include him in the competition as well.

"This here is the gym," Marth gestured with his hand at the room filled with various equipment that Ike himself has never seen.

"Wow, people really come workout here?" Ike asked.

"Yes, but right now it is lunch, so everyone is in the dining hall. Come, let me show you where it is."

As the two walked down the hallway, continuing the tour, Ike asked his friend, "Hey, how are the other fighters here? Are they all jackasses with egos as big as their heads?"

Marth laughed at the comment. "Surprisingly, they're all rather friendly. Well, the majority of them anyway. There are a few rotten eggs I will point out to you that I think you should stay out of trouble with. But they come from all over the world from places we have not visited. It is amazing seeing the diversity. I was even surprised to see some of them as fighters, for there are a few who surely don't strike me as one." The two arrive at their destination. "But be warned, do not underestimate any of them. They're all just as capable, some more so, than we are."

Marth pushed his hand against the large door and revealed the large, tall dining hall.

Ike dropped his mouth once more, his eyes squinting at the sunlight shining through those magnificent glass windows high above on the walls. So this is the dining hall? What else is there to see throughout the building that could be more impressive than this?

"Hey! Quit it!"

The voice shook Ike back to his senses, and the blue-haired mercenary blinked in confusion before realizing that he had not noticed the fighters all sitting at the dining tables before him. Directing his attention to the individuals before him, he searched for the origins of the voice.

And that's when he was struck speechless. Before him stood a diverse array of colorful characters, some human, some animal, some a different species, and some just plain…odd. It was not the sight Ike expected to see. For one, a huge pink marshmallow was tugging a fat, stout, ugly man who was laughing grotesquely and pounding with two wooden spoons on a metal bucket, with said bucket attached to the head of an unknown green clad figure.

"STOP!" The poor figure inside the bucket yelled again, his voice slightly muffled by the bucket as he struggled to pry it off. Meanwhile, the pink marshmallow continued to pull and pry the ugly man away in failed attempts due to its lack of fingers or hands for that manner. A large cackle echoed across the dining hall, and Ike turned his attention to that deep, gruff noise where, at a different dining table, a very large, dark brute male with flaming red hair and ornate armor was clearly laughing in amusement. Sitting across from the brute male was another striking figure, a large lizard looking creature with a dangerously spiky back, and next to him was a...giant penguin.

What in the world…

"Hey, stop it! Wario, go back to your table!" A beautiful, tall, slim woman in a tight blue spacesuit and a blond ponytail stood up angrily from her table and headed towards the helpless figure that was struggling to get the bucket off his head.

"Aw, but I'm just having some fun," the grotesque looking man known as Wario snickered, pounding even harder on the bucket as he sang horribly. "DA DA DA DA DA!"

"Hands OFF!" Wario shook in surprise for a second at the feel of a delicate but firm hand pry his wrist away. He turned to see the woman with elfin ears glare at him.

"Oh, looks like the princess is getting a little pissy, hahahaha," the lizard creature cackled to his companion at his table, enjoying the scene.

"Heh," Warrior only smiled, using his other hand to hit the bucket once more.

Immediately, the princess with the elfin ears brimmed with energy and the next thing anyone knew, Warrior was launched across the dining hall, a trail of powerful magic following him, as he landed upside down on another table and crashed to the floor hard, groaning in pain.

This further sent the other large figures at the other dining table laughing loudly even more.

Meanwhile, Ike dropped his mouth, taken back by the scene before him and equally shocked by the power of what he thought to be a delicate elf in beautiful attire. Apparently this was no ordinary princess.

"Be careful, you could get in trouble for doing that. Remember the rules!" Warned the dual voice of two short individuals in Eskimo clothing sitting at another table.

The young woman with elfin ears clapped her hands clean. "He deserved it," she stated firmly, and returned her attention to the green clad figure who was still trying to get the bucket off his head as the pink marshmallow continued to tug fruitlessly on it.

"Here, let me help," the blond woman in the blue tight suit grabbed the bucket and tugged as the marshmallow stood by helplessly and desperately. "Gosh, it's really stuck on there."

"Let's do this together," the princess walked around them and got behind the green clad figure, her hands holding on tightly to his arms. "All right, now pull!"

The two women tugged until they heard a pop, the bucket flying off in one direction, and the princess and the hapless individual now tumbling backwards.

Just as the two were about to fall onto the floor, another stout man in blue overalls and a red cap got up and threw up his hands to stop the princess and her friend from falling. Except, this chubby man was just too…short.

"Uh oh," he gasped as the princess and the other person both fell right on top of him.

There was a crash, and Ike found himself grimacing before watching the princess and the other figure, who also had elfin ears and was wearing a long green hat that draped backwards, slowly scramble up.

"Oh, thank you Mario. Are you okay?" The princess asked, leaning down.

"I'm fine! Whoo-hoo!" Mario mumbled into the floor with a thumbs up held up, his face still lying flat against the ground.

As the woman in the blue outfit attended to Mario, the princess returned her attention to her friend.

"Are you okay?" she asked, steadying him.

Back still facing the new guests at the door, the princess's companion rubbed his head with a grown. "Ugh…I'm fine. Thanks."

"Well, Hero, I hope the noise didn't burst your ear drums in a harmful manner!" The brute man at the other table continued to cackle along with his crew, including Wario who was now getting up from the ground with an ugly laugh.

"You guys better shut up if you don't want me breaking your bones," the blue suited woman pounded her fist against the palm of her hand, crackling her knuckles in preparation for a fight.

Just then, a loud cough echoed in the dining hall, and the fighters all directed their attention to the two individuals standing at the doorway.

"Ahem," Marth repeated.

"Oh my, we have another cute one in our midst," a different blond woman in pink princess garb commented with a delightful blush.

"Who's the new guest I need to beat?" A rough man with a scrubby chin, a bandana, and a cigarette in his mouth mumbled with a sharp eye.

"I'm looking forward to pounding this new fool," the lizard hissed.

"Wa wa wa wa wa," the marshmallow threw up his hands in an incomprehensible greeting.

Marth held up his hand. "Please allow me to introduce Ike, the mercenary from my homeland." The prince gestured to his friend, much to the curiosity of everyone in the room. "He is the newest fighter who will be competing in the tournaments."

"Oh, is he another prince?" The girl in pink pretended to be on the verge of fainting.

"No, Peach, he is not," Marth chuckled.

"He said he's a mercenary. Don't you ever pay attention? Stupid girl," The man with the scruffy chin mumbled from another table.

Just then, Mario pushed himself up from the floor and ran to the girl, standing in front of her in a protective stance and glaring at the owner of that comment. "Don't insult my Princess Peach!" he stated firmly.

"Oh Mario," Peach swooned.

Ike chuckled uneasily at this strange scene when he looked up and saw that the green clad figure had already turned around. And then he sucked in his breath.

Large, clear blue eyes and silky dirty blond stresses framed a handsome face that was now looking at him with curiosity. The male was slim but fit, his elfin ears prominent just like those of the princess standing next to him. He wasn't particularly tall, but he wasn't short either, and his green garb now revealed one who often traveled alone and battled. There was clearly a chainmail underneath the layer, and a sword and shield sat on his back. For some reason, Ike couldn't take his eyes off of the young man until Marth continued speaking.

"Ike, allow me to introduce you to everyone."

And thus, Ike learned the rest of the names of the fighters present in the hall, with the scrubby faced man filled with foul language to be Snake, the beautiful tall woman in blue to be the bounty hunter Samus, the marshmallow looking creature to be Kirby, the large lizard to be Bowser, Bowser's companion to be Ganondorf, and other individuals including a Pokemon trainer (whatever that was), a few kids (much to his surprise that kids can fight in this battle), a green dinosaur, and more. It was quite overwhelming, but most of all, Ike wanted to know who the two individuals with elfin ears were.

"And last but not least, these two here are Link and Princess Zelda from the Land of Hyrule."

Link gave a friendly smile and stepped forward with a hand reached out. "Pleased to meet you-WAHH!" The blond-haired man crashed to the floor face first, much to the shock of Ike, Marth, Zelda, and everyone else around them.

"SNAKE!" Samus yelled, seeing the foot that had slyly stuck out from underneath a chair.

"Hey, it was too good an opportunity to pass up," the man shrugged, receiving a carton of milk to the face in response.

"A-are you all right?" Ike quickly got to the floor and pulled up the blond man as Zelda did the same from the other side.

"Ah…yea…sorry," Link rubbed his face, not liking the taste of the ground. He gave a sheepish chuckle. "Anyway, it is nice to meet you," he held out his hand once more.

Ike blinked, and then smiled as he shook the other man's hand. "It's nice to meet you too, Link."

"Well then, I'm going to be busy for the rest of the day," Marth interrupted, "So I'm sorry that I must leave you for now, but unfortunately I was stuck with some unpleasant duties. However, Link here, I'm sure you don't mind giving my friend here a tour of the facility. I already showed him the gym and the arena. Perhaps you can show him the rest before taking him to his room."

"No problem," Link stood firm and nodded, agreeing to the task with eagerness.

Marth patted Link on the shoulder. "Thank you. Now excuse me, allow me to have a word with Ike before I take off." Pulling his friend aside and walking away from the earshot of the rest of the fighters, he lowered his voice and said, "Now Ike, I think it is already obvious to you who not to hang out with. Avoid that other table. They are not the most pleasant individuals to deal with, and they will never be anyone's friend. Do not trust them, and do not start a fight with them."

Ike rolled his eyes, knowing his friend already knows his love for trouble.

"Again, I repeat, do not start a fight with them. There are strict rules in place about fighting outside the arena. But other than that, I encourage you to make friends with everyone else. I trust your judgment." He gave a hard pat on Ike's back.

"Feels like I'm with a bunch of young school children," Ike remarked in good humor.

Marth laughed. "Yes, I can see that."

"What about that elf boy, Link?"

"Hm? What do you mean?" Marth blinked. "And he's not an elf. He's a Hylian, and their race is known for those ears. Note that Zelda in particular does not like being called an elf, so I advise that you avoid doing so, especially after seeing what she is capable of."

Ike remembered Wario being launched across the room in one swift motion. He swallowed. "But what I mean is," Ike continued, "That boy, Link. He seems to be…bullied a lot. Is he not well-liked?"

Marth blinked in surprise before letting out a hearty laugh. "Oh, on the contrary, Link is VERY well-liked. Perhaps too much. Everyone is in love with the boy. Well, not necessarily in love, but what I mean is, he is a very nice person with a humble personality. The women love to dote on him, and he makes a great friend. Unfortunately, it is also because of his friendly personality that he attracts some rather unpleasant attention, and is often a target of many jokes."

"Like from Snake? I don't like that guy, especially after he tripped Link like that."

"Oh, Snake is an interesting one. He does seem rather brash, but he's actually not that bad once you get to know him. He kind of reminds me of you," Marth snickered.

"Hey, I may be brash, but I don't go around tripping people," Ike folded his arms in defense, not liking the comparison.

Marth chuckled. "Okay okay. True. And by the way, Snake actually likes Link, very much as a matter of fact. Unfortunately, he displays his likeness for others by teasing them, sometimes overstepping the boundaries." Marth sighed.

"You know, with the way Link is being teased, I'd have to say I'm surprised he's here as a fighter. He must be an easy opponent."

Marth's eyes suddenly darkened, and he lowered his face to say to his friend, "Do not underestimate him. He is one of the top fighters here. He may be friendly, but in the tournament, his fighting spirit, techniques, and skills are beyond comprehensible, and his swordsmanship topnotch. The boy displays a tremendous amount of courage. He has defeated the majority of the fighters here," Marth swallowed before finishing, "including me. More than once."

Ike shook at this shocking revelation, and he looked at Marth with questioning eyes and a demand for an explanation.

"Anyway, I will trust you in Link's hands." A smile graced the prince once more. "He will take good care of you. Make yourself at home."

And thus Marth left, leaving Ike to converse with his new escort.

"So, you come from Hyrule?" Ike asked the blond-haired man as the two walked down the hallway.

"Hm," Link nodded. "And Zelda is the ruler there. We were both invited here over a month ago. Unfortunately, so was Ganondorf," Link said darkly. "Ganondorf had caused great havoc on Hyrule multiple times, but Zelda and I have stopped him from succeeding with his plans. No doubt he is happy to be here, falsely believing it an opportunity to rid of me or Zelda." Link clenched his fists.

"Interesting," Ike commented, wondering about Link's arch nemesis.

"And here is the pool," Link stopped at a window overlooking the vast, blue water.

"That's a pool?" Ike pressed up against the glass in shock. "Just how big is it?"

"Not sure," Link shrugged. "But it sure is fun to swim in. Now, I'll take you to the locker room."

As the two continued walking, Ike asked, "So, have you defeated this Ganondorf in the tournament?"

"With pleasure," Link stated proudly.

Ike smiled. "I heard you're a top fighter here. Marth complimented your skills and swordsmanship."

"Ah…it's really nothing," Link shook his hands, face immediately red with embarrassment.

Ike blinked, amused by this reaction. "But surely you must know you're good. I mean, you defeated my friend more than once, and that's saying something."

This only served to make Link blush even more, and the flustered young man responded adamantly, "It was just luck! Plain luck! Marth is one of the best fighters I have seen, so please don't think that I am better than him!" And then, surprised by his outburst, Link looked down at the ground, abashed.

Ike, surprised by the passion and enthusiasm of the Hylian, chuckled. Marth was right. Link was a very humble person indeed.

For the rest of the day, the blue-haired mercenary listened to the Hylian hero chat about his homeland, his childhood friend Ilia, something about another world and a princess named Midna who resided there, and the wonderful people in his home village. Learning about his humble beginnings, Ike was quite surprised that this lone individual had been on so many adventures, more than he had himself. And for one who was humble, Link sure liked to talk, not that Ike minded at all. In fact, he was quickly growing fond of the young man already.

Dinner in the dining hall that evening included more loud raucous and squabbles such as Snake and Bowser getting into an arm wrestling match, the dinosaur Yoshi accidentally swallowing a large yellow mouse-looking creature named Pikachu (with the latter having to be ejected out of Yoshi's body in the form of an egg), and a strange Pokémon named Jigglypuff who unintentionally sent everyone into a deep slumber in the dining hall. The fighters had to depend on Zelda, who had walked into the dining hall late, to stop the Pokémon from singing any further. Ike certainly didn't expect any of this when he first arrived at his new home, and he was still boggled by how he suddenly fell asleep and woke up to find his face in a bowl of noodles.

It had been quite a long day, and the mercenary was relieved to finally be shown the door to his room. "This is where you will be staying," Link smiled. He took Ike's key and unlocked the door to reveal a rather simple room compared to all the other things Ike had seen that day. At least the bed was big, but other than a small table with some chairs and a couch and sofa, there really wasn't much else to the room. The walls were even bland, save for a few paintings here and there.

"Not much, I know," Link chuckled, clearly reading Ike's expression. "But it's more than enough in my opinion. You even have your own bathroom."

Ike turned to look at the young man smiling friendly at him, those innocent blue eyes so welcoming and pure. Realizing he was staring, Ike coughed and turned to the windows overlooking a green garden, which was dimly lit now that it was nighttime. "Tell me, Link. Do you like it here?"

"Hm?" Link blinked, surprised by the question. "But of course. I'm still here, aren't I?"

Ike laughed. "Well, yes. But I mean, I can't help notice that you get…um, well, picked on a lot."

Link's face flushed in full-fledged embarrassment, suddenly remembering his humiliating encounter with Wario earlier that day, and how the grotesque man decided to place a bucket over his head and play it like a drum.

"Sorry!" Ike immediately apologized, seeing the red-faced Hylian obviously not enjoying reliving his humiliation from lunch. "I didn't mean to…you see…ah…" Ike scratched the back of his head in frustration.

"It's…really not that bad," Link reassured him, brushing it off, though his cheeks were still pink. "I can hold my own, so it's nothing to worry about." He let out a genuine smile.

Ike felt his heart flutter unexpectedly.

"Anyway, you must be tired now. It was a pleasure meeting you, Ike," Link held out his hand.

Ike blinked, slightly disappointed that his escort was leaving already, but shook the gloved hand nevertheless with full appreciation. "Thank you for taking the time to show me around. I'm sorry that Marth seemed to have thrown this on you at the last minute."

"No really, it was my pleasure," Link smiled again. "Have a goodnight." As the Hylian was about to head out the door, the mercenary immediately called out to him.

"Oh Link. Um, where are you staying at?" Ike asked.

Link stopped and turned around. "I'm on the floor beneath you, Room 222. Feel free to drop by should you need help with anything or just getting around here. Bye!"

And thus the door shut, leaving Ike staring at where his escort previously stood. Scratching his head, he turned around to begin unpacking his bag, which was placed on a chair from earlier by one of the service people working in the facility. As he proceeded to unpack, he processed in everything he saw today. It was slightly overwhelming just seeing the different fighters residing currently here, but most of all, Ike found his mind preoccupied with the fighter Link. The Hylian's friendly and innocent smile continuously popped up in his mind. Ike let out a sigh, finding himself wishing that the boy had stayed longer.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door, and Ike immediately rushed to the front of the room to open it.

"Hi! Finding your stay here good so far?" Marth perked with a big smile.

"Oh, it's you," Ike commented, slightly disappointed.

"Well hello to you too, you ungrateful brat," Marth playfully struck Ike softly on the side of his head. "Now are you going to let me in or not?"

"Oh, sorry," Ike smiled sheepishly, letting the prince step into the room before closing the door.

Marth immediately propped himself on top of the sofa, crossing his legs and leaning back with his hands behind his head. "It's so nice to finally relax."

"All your duties done, I presume?" Ike said, sitting down next to Marth.

"Yes. And how was your day? I trust that my friend Link did a good job showing you around? He was very welcoming, was he not?"

Ike chuckled. "Yes, he was very attractive. ATTENTIVE."

Marth blinked, surprised.

"Ahem. Attentive," Ike repeated with a cough, hitting his chest as his cheeks turned slightly pink. "And quite the chatterbox."

"Oh?" Marth raised an eyebrow in surprise. "The boy usually doesn't talk. At all. At least, not in front of me or anyone else except his closest friend Princess Zelda. He's rather silent, but always with a smile on his face." Marth eyed Ike carefully, placing his elbow on his lap to lean forward. "Why would he suddenly be a chatterbox in front of you?"

Ike raised his hands up in defense. "Hey, don't look at me that way. How should I know," he chuckled uneasily.

Marth looked at him in a playfully suspicious manner before placing his hands back behind his head and leaning back. "And you? What do you think of Link so far?"

"Well, you were definitely right about him being humble. He seems to get embarrassed every time I mention his fighting abilities. But overall, he's very friendly." He remembered the Hylian's warm smile, which left his heart fluttering. Suddenly, he noticed that Marth was now staring at him. "What?"

Marth gave a smirk. "I knew you'd take a liking to him immediately."

"Hey hey," Ike said, hiding his embarrassment. "I said he is a nice person."

"I'm just joking," Marth said. "I only meant it as in you'd grow fond of him. All of us have upon meeting him for the first time. He's a very pleasant person to be with." And then the prince stood up from his seat. "Anyway, I'm glad you had a good welcoming. I must go back to my room now. I'm spent, and need to wake up early for the tournament tomorrow."

Ike dropped his mouth. "Wait, what tournament? Tomorrow?"

"Yes, did you not know?"

"No! Link failed to mention it!"

Marth gave a knowing smile. "Not a surprise. It's because he's in it."

Now this caught Ike's interest even more.

"Look Ike, I can read it on your face. You're still doubting the boy's abilities. So let's say I'll come get you for breakfast at eight tomorrow, and then we'll head on over to the arena together. Link is up against some pretty good opponents tomorrow, including Bowser himself. It will be an interesting match. Now goodnight. I'll be on this floor in room 327 if you need me," and with a wave, Marth opened the door and left.

Ike was still sitting on the couch, flabbergasted at the announcement. And then he remembered Marth's earlier words.

Do not underestimate him…He has defeated the majority of the fighters here, including me.

More than once.