Cupid For Hire - Ch 2

Pit watched he do so with wide eyes. "I didn't know you could pick locks." He said incredulously.

"If you've lived like how I lived during Melee, you learn a thing or two..." Pichu gave one final twist and the lock unhinged. Pit opened the door to the secret room and the two were met with the sight of two long shelves lining both sides of the space. The two long shelves were lined with various items, weapons, and bottles of unidentified liquids, most likely potions.

"Whoa..." Pichu whispered as she looked them all with wide eyes. Pit entered the little room and retrieved a reddish bow and a quiver of arrows.

"Got them!" Pit declared with a smile.

"Great!" Pichu replied and rubbed her paws together. "Now let's get going."

Closing the door to the room, the two swiftly exited the closet and retreated out of the room, ready to commence their plan. 

(Page Break) 

Pichu sat with her back against the wall as she examined one of the magenta arrows in her paws. She and Pit were now at the opening of one of the mansion's large hallways with the living room right in front of them. As to be expected, the living room was bustling with many of the Smashers all performing individual tasks. Pichu continued to look over the arrow with an impressed expression.

"These things are actually very well crafted." She commented. Pit finished counting through the special arrows and flung the quiver over his shoulder and around his back.

"Okay, I'm ready." He said.

Pichu immediately stood up and handed him the arrow. "Do you see them?"

"Uh...There! Across the room."

All the way at the other side of the room, Pikachu was talking with Fox while Jigglypuff stood next to him and was scribbling something down in a notepad.

"Alright Pit. Work your magic." Pichu encouraged. Pit breathed in quietly and pushed back on the string of the bow. Bracing his muscles, he let go and the arrow quickly and silently flew right into the living room, over all the Smashers, and right toward Pikachu. However, Pit's aim had been off and it bounced right off the wall behind him and flew toward the right.

Pichu looked on in shock. "Pit! You missed!"

"I'm sorry." Pit apologized. "I haven't had lunch yet, I can't focus well."

"Don't worry, it's fine." Pichu told him. "We'll just try again."

Meanwhile, in the living room, Sonic and Mega Man were making their way through the crowd of Smashers, holding a rather larger box. Once the two found a clear spot, they set it down on the floor.

"Alright, Mario just told me that they're arranging a Valentine's party tomorrow," Sonic said, facing his friend. "And he put us in charge of music and sound direction." Mega Man looked down in the box to see that it was filled with tons of CDs.

"So what kind of music are we using?" He asked.

"Well," Sonic replied with a grin. "I was thinking we could start out with some smooth jazz to help set the mood, then we-AH!" The blue hedgehog let out a startled yelp as a sharp pain suddenly struck his back. "What was that? What hit me?" He turned around to look behind him for the source of the pain. As he did, a weird magenta colored arrow was revealed, sticking right between his should blades. Once spotting it, Mega Man tilted his head and pulled the arrow out, causing the hedgehog to jump again.

"Uh, Sonic." The robot said as he looked at it. "I think this is what hit you." Sonic looked back to see the arrow and took it from his hand and looked at it in bewilderment.

"What the-" Suddenly, he froze up and his eyes went wide as a strange tingling feeling started to spread through his body. As this happened, his green eyes had changed into a soft pink color. Sonic blinked a few times and turned to look across the the living room. The first person that met his eyes was Greninja.

The water Pokemon was sitting idly on the couch as she waited patiently for Lucario. Her soft ink scarf rested gently against her side and her bright red eyes glowed a bit from the lights in the living room as she gazed into nothing. Sonic stood rigid as he stared at the graceful-looking Pokemon with shining eyes. Not once before had he ever been drawn by her looks, but suddenly she looked so beautiful now...

"Hello? Earth to Sonic!" Mega Man spoke up, snapping is fingers near the hedgehog's face. "Are you okay?" Sonic was finally pulled out of his little trance by his friend's voice and he shook his head a bit to regain this thinking. A smirk started to spread on his muzzle as he put all of his focus on the Pokemon, tossed the arrow out of his hand, and began to make his way across the living room.

"I've never been better." He said as he left, leaving Mega Man to watch him in confusion. Back at the couch, Greninja continued to sit and wait for the Aura Pokemon to return from the kitchen. She was currently lost in her thoughts as she wondered what the two of them were going to do tomorrow for Valentine's day. Maybe they could go see a movie. The sequel to that rather...exotic movie about a guy and girl falling in love was said to release tomorrow. She couldn't really recall the name of it, but she knew it had something to do with the color grey. Perhaps they could go out to dinner since many restaurants were serving specials for the holiday, or they could-

"Hey." A sudden voice spoke up, interrupting her train of thoughts. Greninja turned to see Sonic standing next to and leaning against the couch with a rather odd smirk on his face. The water Pokemon raised an eyebrow and gave him an odd look at the expression he was giving her, but also waited to see what he wanted.

"Sooo, I hear that you have the highest speed stats of all the water starter Pokemon." The hedgehog commented then gave her a wink. "Y'know, I like girls who have a little speed to them, if you catch my drift." Greninja's eyes instantly widened at his rather suggestive comment.

A random 'ding-ding' rung and Mega Man cringed when heard the sound of a loud and painful slap. Immediately after, Sonic came flying from all the way across the room and crashed right into the wall next to him.

"Sonic, are you alright?!" The robot asked in alarm.

"Duuude." Sonic mumbled with a goofy smile as he slid off the wall. "I think I'm in love."

Back over at the hallway entrance, Pit had gotten another arrow and readied it with the bow. "Okay, try your best to concentrate this time." Pichu told him. Pit heeded her words and put all of his focus on just Pikachu. Narrowing his eyes in concentration, he took a deep, slow breath and released it. Once again, the arrow flew across the room right toward Pikachu, only to have the Pokemon finish his conversation and walk away. The arrow bounced off the wall once more and this time flew toward the left part of the living room.

Pichu and Pit looked on in disbelief and watched as both Pikachu and Jigglypuff entered the opposite hallway. The little Pokemon then snapped back into reality.

"We can still catch them." She told the angel. "We just gotta move along with them."

"Okay." Pit said but then paused for a second. "...But can we get lunch real quick?"

Pichu was quiet as she processed his words then gave a nod. "Sure. We'll have a quick lunch." Swiftly and silently, the two bounded through the living room, thankful that everyone there was focusing on their own things, and disappeared into the other hall. However, they were unaware of the shenanigans within the room that was continuing to unfold...

Back at the couch, Greninja was still glaring in the direction she had sent Sonic flying toward, irritation still burning within her. The fact that she was currently in a relationship that everyone in the mansion knew about and the hedgehog had the nerve to attempt to flirt with her had definitely angered her. However, it also confused her a bit. Not once had Sonic really showed an interest in any of the female Smashers in the Smash Mansion before, or really any sort of interest for a relationship in general. Although the reason for that was that a majority of them were human anyway and by what she's heard, he's had a bad experience with a human female that he refuses to talk about...

Getting back on topic, Sonic didn't seem like the type to want a relationship, so why is he showing a sudden interest in her? Before she could think about it any further, something suddenly flew right into her right shoulder, causing her to flinch at the sharp pain.

"Ow..." She muttered and looked to see some sort of magenta arrow sticking right into her shoulder, just barely underneath her scarf. Confused, she took it out and looked at it with narrowed eyes, until her eyes widened as a strange feeling started to take over her entire body, causing her heart to suddenly start racing. With a fuzzy mind, Greninja turned and looked back at where Mega Man stood next to Sonic laying face-down on the floor. Her eyes started to go from bright red to the soft pink color as she put all of her focus on the blue hedgehog, the anger and confusion that she felt toward him starting to dissipate and was replaced with a different feeling...

Mega Man struggled rather pitifully as he tried to get Sonic back up and onto his feet. "C'mon, Sonic." He said through gritted teeth as he pulled on his friend's arm. "I know she hit you pretty hard, but you gotta at least make an effort to stand back up!" He then stopped when he heard what sounded like webbed feet frantically hopping toward their general direction. Without warning, Mega Man yelped as he was forcefully shoved away by Greninja as the water Pokemon stood over the hedgehog with concern shining in her now pink eyes.

"Sonic! Sonic!" She said in a panicky tone as she tried to shake him awake. Sonic had then let out a groan as he blinked open his eyes and propped himself onto his elbows.

"That hurt." He mumbled with a bit of admiration in his voice. He was then suddenly picked up and engulfed in a hug. Surprised, he looked up to see Greninja holding him close to her and resting her nose atop his head.

"I'm so sorry for throwing you across the room like that." She said, looking down at him lovingly. "I don't know what came over me."

Sonic then gave her a smile. "It's alright. I knew you'd come around."

Mega Man sat on the floor where he was shoved and just stared at the two in utter confusion, not believing what he was seeing. "...I'm so confused right now..." He muttered. At the front of the living room, Lucario walked through one of the entrances, holding two smoothies in his paws.

"Hey Greninja!" He called out with a smile. "I got your-" He stopped dead in his tracks and his smile instantly melted from his face. All the way at the other end of the living room was Greninja and Sonic now snuggling into each other as the water Pokemon continued to hold the hedgehog close, the two laughing and snickering as they talked softly to one another. Lucario only stared at the sight as his paws clenched tightly on the smoothies until the glasses finally shattered while one of his eyes started to twitch.

(Page Break)

"This isn't as easy as I thought it was gonna be." Pichu admitted then stuffed a paw-ful of chips into her mouth. The duo was now standing next to a counter in the kitchen to have their quick lunch. Scattered along the kitchen as well was Captain Falcon and Pac-Man, who were preparing meals for themselves as well. The little Pokemon had grabbed a bag of nacho cheese chips and the angel and made a sandwich and was chewing at it ravenously. Pichu continued to munch on snack as she directed her gaze onto the counter's surface in concentration.

"Okay, so obviously we're not gonna be able to hit them both if they're gonna be constantly moving around." She continued her thought process, putting some more chips in her mouth. "So we just gotta make sure that we get them both while they're together in one place. We're also gonna act have to move along with them and act fast so we don't miss."

"But how are we gonna know when they'll be together in one spot?" Pit asked after swallowing a mouthful of his sandwich.

"Well," Pichu replied. "Judging by how Jigglypuff seemed to be writing things down as Pikachu talked to Fox, it seems like she's helping him with his planning and organization. Plus, they also left the living room together, heading in the same direction, so it's most likely that Jigglypuff is going to be near him for most of the day. So again, all that we need to do is try to follow them and shoot them both when they're still and in one place. We also need to make sure that we keep ourselves hidden while we do so, so they won't find out."

Pit nodded in agreement and resumed to eating his sandwich while the little Pokemon continued to munch on her chips. They ate in a peaceful silence for a few more minutes until the door to the kitchen was pushed open and Peach, Zelda, Mr. Game and Watch, and Kirby had all entered while carrying bags containing various supplies and ingredients for what seemed for an assortment of desserts. However, entering right behind them was none other than Pikachu and Jigglypuff. Upon seeing the two older Pokemon, Pichu's eyes widen and she nearly choked on her chips. Spitting them back into the bag, she hastily tossed it away and started to push Pit to get him to move.

Surprised by her sudden actions, the angel started to speak. "H-Hey, what're you-"

"Shhh!" Pichu quickly slammed her paws over his mouth to quiet him then spoke in a low whisper. "Pikachu and Jigglypuff are in here, we gotta get out of sight!" Heeding her words, Pit grabbed the rest of his sandwich and followed the little Pokemon as she jumped off the counter and the two bounded through the large kitchen toward the door leading to the dining room and disappearing through. Back towards the front of the kitchen, the little group of four was setting down their bags and started to unload them on the counter near the ovens.

"Okay," Pikachu had spoken up, catching their attention. "Since you four are in charge for the food supplied for the party, we need at least eight batches of cookies and cupcakes so there will be enough to supply for all of the Smashers. You think you guys can handle it?"

"It is quite a lot," Peach replied but gave a warm smile. "But I'm sure we can manage to prepare them all! We'll be sure to work hard and effectively to get it done by tomorrow!"

Pikachu returned her smile. "Glad to hear it.

"Also regarding other food choices," Jigglypuff then said and took out her little notebook. "Here's what we had in mind for other snacks."

The dining room door creaked open slowly as Pichu peered inside and at the two Pokemon as they continued to converse with the other four. "Okay, they're in one place." She said and looked back at Pit, who was already reaching back to grab an arrow. "We have to shoot now before they move again."

"Well, I have an idea." The angel said with a smile and took out two arrows. "How about I try to shoot two arrows at the same time so it could hit them both simultaneously. That way it could get them both in one shot. What do you think?"

Pichu thought about it for a moment then nodded. "That could work. Now hurry, before they move again!" Pit gave a nod and readied the two arrows into his bow and pulled back. Pichu opened the dining room door wider, but only a little so now one would notice them. With better focus this time, Pit aimed right at the two Pokemon and released the arrows. Unfortunately, Pikachu and Jigglypuff had finished their discussion with Peach right as the arrows entered the kitchen and they turned and started to head toward the door. As to be expected, the arrows bounced off the wall where they previously stood and hit both Peach and Mr Game and Watch, causing the two to jump in surprise.

However, it remained unnoticed as Pichu's jaw dropped and panic struck her heart. "Quick! We gotta shoot more before they leave!" She said urgently, turning to look back at Pit, who had already frantically grabbed two more arrows and fired them into the kitchen, only to have them miss as well and bounce back, hitting this time Zelda and Kirby. Pit gave one last attempt and shot two more arrows as the Pokemon reached the door, but had barely missed as they walked out and the arrows bounced back and now hit Captain Falcon and Pac-Man. Pichu gave a quiet groan and slammed her head against the dining room wall as she let the door close. She took a moment to regain herself, then stood straight and started to scamper toward the other door leading into the hallway.

"C'mon, we gotta follow them!" She called back.

"Coming!" Pit said and picked up his half-eaten sandwich, shoved the rest of it in his mouth, and tailed after her. The two stood opened the door and looked out cautiously. Once spotting Pikachu and Jigglypuff heading down the hall toward a branching hallway that lead to the mansion's party room. Pichu motioned for Pit to follow and they duo headed after them.

In the kitchen, Peach, Zelda, Mr Game and Watch, Captain Falcon, and Pac-Man were all glancing around in confusion at the suddenly feeling of the arrows hitting all of them. "What was that?" The hylian princess questioned with narrowed, puzzled eyes. Before any of them could even respond, they all stood rigid as they eyes widened and turned pink as the arrows started to affect them. However, the only one that didn't seem to be affect was Kirby. Instead, the pink puffball pulled the arrow from the side of his body where it hit him and looked at it with his beady eyes. Without even thinking, he then just shoved it in his mouth and swallowed it with a smile. The rest remained in their trance-like state until the sound of the kitchen door opening pulled them out of it and they all turned to see that Marth had entered and was grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge. 

The prince unscrewed the cap and started to take sips until he noticed all of their gazes on him and looked at them in bewilderment. "What?" He asked.