Memories of David The Echidna

"I'm home! Is everybody ready?" I called out as I entered through the front door. Almost immediately, I heard several footsteps rushing towards me.

"Daddy!" My little girl ran into the room and sprung into my arms. I couldn't help but laugh as I lifted her up into my arms.

"I see you are." I chuckled. "How's my little princess doing?"

"Mommy says we're going to a barber-cue." She said. "What's that mean?"

"It's "Barbecue"," My son was the next come. He actually arrived around the same time his sister did, but he started walking when he came in. "It's when you cook food on a grill outside."

I set her down, "That's right. And we're going to your mother's friends house to do just that." Both Smash and Pearl had put on their nice clothes and shoes. Pearl was wearing her hair in pig-tails; a style her mother only did for her on occasions like these.

"We're all ready, dear." My wife, Sarah, stood in the doorway to the room, where the kids came from. "Do you want to rest a bit before we leave?"

"No thanks. I'm fine." I said. "Don't wanna hold anyone back. Let's get going."

She smiled kindly at me, "Okay, then." and walked over to join us. I opened the door for them all, and we all set out to leave.

"So where do they live, Dad?" Smash asked me, as we walked out of our front yard. "Are they far from here?"

"Sort of." I replied. "It's a good long walk from here. They live in Techno Hill Zone."

"I've never really walked that far, before." Sarah said. "It might be tiring, but it'd be good for us all to get out and walk together as a family for once."

"Indeed." I agreed. "I might be able to take us through some shortcuts, to make things easier."

"That would be great."
We continued to walk through the grassy, flowery plains. It was still early, we had plenty of time left in the day. Though I really wanted to have some time for the barbecue, I wanted to take the time to enjoy our family walk while it lasted.

We walked for a rather long while. As we progressed through the area, I gradually learned just how beautiful Green Flower Zone really was. Great big hills, clean, refreshing rivers, and quite a few waterfalls--ranging from gentle and small to simply massive. And no matter where we walked, there were always flowers scattered about, growing wildly. This walk was definitely worth it. Eventually, I nearly forgot that we weren't doing it just to enjoy nature together.

"This place is beautiful..." Sarah said, softly.

"It really is, isn't it? We need to come out here more often." I said. "This place has so much more to see than the city."

I could hear her giggle a bit. She leaned closer as we walked, and I wrapped my arm around her shoulder. "I would love to have a picnic here, one day."

"Yeah, that'd be great..."

Our walk lasted a while longer. We soon made it to Techno Hill Zone. While Green Flower Zone had a lot more water and flowers about, Techno Hill was quite beautiful in it's own way. It was only a matter of time before we arrived at our destination.











The next day, Smash awoke early that morning as usual to begin his morning workout. As he trained in the back yard, his mind full of thoughts from yesterday, Pearl had also gotten out of bed early. Wanting to get an early start to the day, she was in the kitchen preparing breakfast. Both of their minds were filled with thoughts of the previous day. Speedy was right, It was rather sudden for them. They hadn't set foot in this case for seven years, and suddenly almost everything is revealed in a single day. It was an overwhelming feeling for the both of them.
Smash found himself training harder than usual. He was beginning to wear himself out already, but he wouldn't stop to take a break. 'What's gotten into me, today...?' He thought. 'There's no danger coming up. Blitz Pit's still on break. Why am I feeling so violent..?' As he thought this, he was relentlessly punching the air in front of him as if someone he really hated was standing in front of him, mocking him all the way. He was finding it harder to keep his thoughts together, as he pushed himself to train harder.

Pearl, on the other hand, was keeping her thoughts together, a little too well. Every once in a while she would pause in the kitchen, drifting off into deep thought. Sometimes she would nearly forget what she was doing altogether. 'So much has happened since then...I was beginning to think that we'd never find out anymore about Mom and Dad's passing...' She thought. 'I still feel like I don't know why or how it all happened, yet we all just figured it out yesterday...all at once.' She sighed. 'To think we left everything alone for so long...'
"Need some help?"
Pearl turned around, snapping out of her daze, and saw Luna standing in the kitchen doorway. "You've been spacing out all morning. Not really good for cooking."
Pearl smiled sheepishly. "Oh..t-thanks." She said in embarrassment. Luna walked over and picked up where she left off.
"I can tell you've had a lot on your mind since last night." She said. "I understand what you're going through. I can take over from here, you just sit down and relax." She looked over and gave a comforting smile.
"Thanks, Luna." Pearl said. "I just wanted to get an early start today." She then sat down on a stool by the counter.
"I understand." She replied as she looked back at their food.


Soon, breakfast was ready. The family gathered together at the table, as Luna served everyone a plate of pancakes and eggs, along with strips of beef bacon and a glass of orange juice. An ideal breakfast.
"Ah this looks good, Honey." Smash said as his plate was served. "Thanks."
"Yeah, it looks delicious!" Pearl agreed.
Luna giggled a bit. "Thank you." She said as she sat down. She set two of their kids, Grace and Salina, next to her in a couple of high chairs so that she could help them eat. Shade, their first child, was able to eat on his own--but he needed a booster seat to reach his food.
As they were eating, Smash wiped his mouth with a napkin before speaking. "A little bit after breakfast, Pearl and I are gonna head down to the Blitz Pit." He said.
"Huh? We are?" Pearl asked, suddenly.
"Yeah, I remembered something else I wanna do down there before we talk to Speeder." He said.
Luna nodded. "I see. I can imagine that you'll be out most of the day."
"Indeed. There's a couple of other places we'll probably be visiting, so I'm not sure when we'll be done for the day."
"Okay. Call me if anything happens, alright?"
Smash smiled. "Of course."

After breakfast, Smash and Pearl were just about ready to leave. Smash was checking to make sure he had everything he needed with him. 'Wallet, cellphone, keys...' His thoughts were interrupted when Pearl began to ask him a question.
"So what did you want to do at the Blitz Pit?" She asked.
Smash looked over at her, waiting a few seconds to make sure he was ready before answering. "I wanted to ask the manager a couple of questions." He said. "Since he's been around when Dad was alive, I figure he'd ought to know something about what happened."
"Oh, That sounds like a good idea." She said. "Well, I'm ready to go."
"Right. Let's head out." Smash lead her into the garage, and headed towards his motorcycle.


It wasn't long before the two of them entered the Blitz Pit. After walking into the lobby, they stopped to take a look around. There were very few people around; only the staff and security were in sight. "It's their last day off." Smash said. "I guess it's natural that it'd be quiet around here, but it just doesn't feel the same."
"I know what you mean." Pearl nodded. "It also smells cleaner..."
"Heh." Smash walked towards the hallway, motioning for her to follow. They walked down the hallway for a couple of minutes, before finally arriving at the manager's office. Pearl glanced at Smash before he knocked on the door a couple of times.

"Come in." Came the reply. He opened the door and walked in ahead of Pearl. Once again, the manager was at his desk, reading the daily paper. He lowered it just enough so he could see who had entered. "Oh, it's you again." He said. "Is this your sister?"

"Yeah, this is Pearl." Smash said. "Pearl, this is the guy in charge of the Blitz."

Pearl gave a friendly smile. "Hello. Nice to meet you."

The manager simply nodded, and looked towards Smash. "We came to ask you something." Smash said, getting down to the point. "About David again..."

The manager put his newspaper down flat on the desk. "Ah. Lemme guess, you're doin' some kinda investigation on this, right?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at the two.

"That's right." Smash said. "You see, I heard that there was this man who was selling armor to the fighters back when he was alive. Do you know anything about him?"

The manager thought for a moment. "A man who was selling armor to the fighters...?" He asked himself, in an attempt to remember. Fortunately, he succeeded. "Yes, that's right. There was a man back then, doing just that." He said. "If I recall, his name was Kaine. In fact I think he was one of the retired fighters here."

"Figured as much." Smash said. "Do you know if he had any sort of interaction with David?"

"I think he did..." He muttered, rubbing his head. "...Ah yes, it's all coming back to me. David used to work for him, helping him test and arrange his products, and helped with the business along the way."

Smash and Pearl both took a step back in shock. "Are you serious!?" Smash exclaimed.

"Yeah. What's with that look?" He asked, raising his eyebrow at them.

"If he was working with him, then that's probably why I found that suit of armor in his locker." Smash said, calming down. "Which means that the armor was one of Kaine's products, and THAT means that Kaine wasn't just selling armor, he was selling Power Armor."

"It looks like that part of the mystery's been solved." Pearl said.

"I dunno. I think you lost me." The manager looked confused. "Who said anything about "Power" armor? I know I sure didn't."

Smash sighed, letting a drop of sweat roll off his face. "I found armor in my dad's locker yesterday." He began to explain. "Took it to a friend to fix up, and he said it uses an elemental ring to boost the wearer's power. If David got this from Kaine, who was making the armor in the first place, then that must mean that he was making powered up armor.

"Oh. I see. I didn't even know he had armor in his locker in the first place." He said, somewhat sheepishly. "Anyway, the whole thing was some kinda plot, anyway. From what I could understand, at least. The police were crawling all over here and the fighters were nearly out of control, once word got out." He shook his head. "I dunno, what happened, really. Everything just went up in flames so suddenly. David suddenly quit working with him, and then like two days later the man's got wanted posters everywhere." He paused for a bit. "...Now that I think about it, I think the reason he quit had something to do with something that'd happened just a little while before." He said. "That is, if it wasn't because he found out about that plot."

"What thing are you talking about?" Smash asked.

"Well, thing is, something happened and your dad needed money, badly." The manager explained. "I don't remember what it was that'd happened, I think it was some kind of family emergency or something like that." Smash and Pearl both felt their hearts taking a harder beat; they had a feeling that they knew what he was referring to. "Anyway, He asked Kaine for money, but he was about ready to have him working ridiculous hours just to pay it off. And he wasn't going to pay him immediately, only piece by piece. I'm pretty sure your dad needed that money as soon as possible in full payment, so...yeah, I'm sure you can understand his feelings at that point."

Smash nodded, thinking about the situation back then. "How did you know all that? Did he tell you?"

"Yeah, he did." He said. "After I asked him what in the blazes possessed him to try to challenge every single fighter in the pit at once."

"Wait, what?" Smash was caught off guard by that one.
"Every single fighter...?" Pearl gasped softly.

"Yeah. Apparently he originally planned to fight them all one by one, and just go on some kinda "Last Stand" and take out as many as he could. But people thought it'd take forever, and it ended up with him against everybody."

Smash's eyes were nearly bulging from his face. "Holy crap...did he win?"

"Apparently, he was a little in over his head. He took quite a beating and lost in pretty bad shape." He said, shaking his head. "But seeing that match...That was extraordinary. If I'd known the whole story, It'd probably have been pretty moving, too."

"Wow..." Was all that Smash could say.

"I got a tape of it, somewhere. I could give it to you if I find it."

Smash nodded. "Thank you, sir. That'd be great." He said. "Thanks for the information, too. I think that's about all we need to know. We should be going now."

"Don't sweat it. I'll send someone to give it to you next time you're around. "

"Thanks. See you later." Smash turned around and headed for the door.

"Have a good day, sir." Pearl said before following after Smash. The man just waved, before picking his newspaper up again.



"Whelp. Can't say I saw THAT coming." Smash said, as the two walked down the hallway towards the lobby.

"Me neither." Pearl agreed. "But it does make a little sense, as it could have given him many chances to figure out his plan."

"True. I guess it also helps with another motive as well." Pearl looked at him, questioningly. "Not only would he have murdered him because he foiled his plans, but also because he felt betrayed. Don't you think?"

Pearl nodded. "Yeah, That sounds plausible."
As the two walked out the hall, they suddenly stopped when they saw a silver cat walking by, directly in front of them. He noticed them immediately, and stopped as well. He turned to face them, as Smash spoke, "Hey, you're...Silver, right?" He asked.

The cat nodded slowly. "Yes..that would be me. And you are Smash and Pearl, correct? Good to see you again."

"Oh, you're The Silver Lancer!" Pearl exclaimed. "I remember seeing you fight here a few times."

"What're you doing here?" Smash asked. "I thought you only come around these parts when there's a tournament going on. World Tournament's been over for a couple of days, now." Silver was silent for a moment. "Is something wrong?"

"I've heard that you were investigating something here?" He said.

Smash shifted his weight to the side. "Yeah, I am. But what's that got to do with you?"

"I heard that you wanted information on one of the older fighters..and you got the person's stuff out of the storage room." He continued, sounding a bit more hesitant now.

Smash rose his eyebrow at him. "That's quite a bit of gossip you've been listening to. Who's been spying on me THIS time?"

"Does this concern you, somehow?" Pearl asked.

"Well no, not directly." Silver stated. "But, I was wondering if you happened to hear anything about a fighter named Razor. Razor Claw The Tiger."

Smash shook his head. "No, not really. Though I did hear he went missing, but that's about it."

"I see..." Silver turned his head away in disappointment.

Smash frowned, shifting his weight to the side. "Why? Do you know him?"

Silver nodded slowly. "I too, have been on an "investigation" here." He said. "Ever since he went missing, I did all that I could to find out what had happened to him. I could only imagine that something had happened here.."

"Who exactly is this "Razor" person?" Pearl asked. "I've never heard of anyone by that name."

Silver looked back at the two. "Razor...is my older brother."

Both of them were taken by surprise. "Your brother? Wait, but didn't you say he was a tiger?" Smash asked, confused.

"And isn't your last name Asbelar or something?" Pearl added.

Silver shook his head. "Abelard." He corrected. "And yes, he is a tiger. We may not be related by blood, but we were raised under the same roof by the same man. We were both abandoned in the mountains of Arid Canyon as children, before we were adopted." He explained. "We kept our respective family names."

"I see..." Smash said, quietly.

"Razor became a fighter here at the first chance he got. I heard he became rather popular around these parts." He continued. "But suddenly, one day, he went missing. I searched all over for him, but I've had no luck." He looked down. "I feel as if I've traveled across the entire continent, looking for him. In fact, the very reason I joined the Blitz Pit was to try and get closer to finding him. I only participated in the actual tournaments, because more than anything my brother loved contests. I keep coming back here on those days in hopes that he would return..."

Smash frowned, unsure of what to say. "..I'm really sorry to hear that." He said. "I assume that you want me to keep an eye out for any clues regarding his whereabouts?"

Silver looked up. "That would be nice. But what I really wanted to ask was; How were you able to get into the storage room? Who's stuff was it that you took with you?"

"That'd be my father's belongings." He said. "He was a fighter here who passed away several years ago."

"I see.."

"Lemme guess, You tried the same thing with your brother, right?" He asked.

Silver nodded. "Yes, I did. But, I wasn't able to legally prove that I was really his brother, so they wouldn't let me in."

"Heh, figures." Smash muttered. "I could try to talk the boss into it, or at least go in there myself, but I dunno if that'd work."

Silver's face lit up. "You would do that?" He asked, hopefully.

"Sure, but like I said, it might not work. So don't get your hopes up too high." Smash said, with a shrug.

Silver placed his hand on his chest and bowed slightly. "Thank you so much." He said. "I won't trouble you to do so now, if you're busy."

"No problem." Smash said. "I'll come back sometime later; gimmie a couple of days at the most. I've still got some stuff to finish up."

"Okay. I will be waiting." He said, soon stepping aside to let them through. "Thanks again. And good luck with your investigation."

"Thanks. You too." Smash began to walk towards the exit. "See you later."

Pearl hurried after him, and waved goodbye as they left the building.


Outside, the two walked towards Smash's motorcycle in the parking lot. "So now what?" Pearl asked. "Are we heading back?"

"Not yet." Smash said. "There's still one more place we should go before going back. You never did see that armor, did you?"

Pearl's eyes widened. "Oh, that's right. Gizmo has it, doesn't he?"

"Yep." Smash sat on the seat of his bike. "I want to check on him and see how he's doing with the repairs." He patted the back seat a couple of times, gesturing for her to get on.

"I can't wait to see it." Pearl said while sitting behind Smash. She held onto his shoulders firmly, "I wonder if Dad actually used it..."

"Yeah, Same here..." He started up the the motor, and they were soon pulling out onto the road.



Soon, they arrived at Gizmo's house. Smash walked up to the front step and rang the doorbell. The door opened surprisingly quickly, and Kitty was flying right there in front of them. "Haii!" He greeted, waving cheerfully.

"Well, Hello there!" Pearl greeted back, grinning at the chao.

"Hello, Kitty." Smash said, smiling a bit. "How's it going? Is Gizmo here?"

"Mm hm!" Kitty nodded, and pointed behind him towards the basement door. He gestured for them to come in, and then flew towards the basement. "Giiiiizzmooooo!" He called out. Smash and Pearl walked in and closed the door behind them.

The basement door opened, and Gizmo stepped out. "What is it?" He asked. Kitty pointed at the doorway, and he looked at Smash and Pearl. "Oh! Hey guys."

"Hey, Giz." Smash greeted, walking towards the two. "So how's it going?"

A big grin spread across Gizmo's face. "You're just in time." He said. "I just declared that armor "ready to go" like 5 minutes ago!"

"Really?" Both of their eyebrows widened as Smash and Pearl exchanged glances. "Well that's great! I wanted to show it to Pearl."

"Well come on down!" Gizmo lead them down into the basement, eagerly. Once they made it down the last step, he stepped aside and gestured towards the suit of armor, standing a few feet away from them. "Ta-daaa!"

The armor glistened in the dim light of the basement. He had really gone all out with it, it looked even better than Smash thought it originally did. The paint had been restored, There were a few extra plates added, along with decorative jewels along the arms and legs. To top it off, it had a royal blue cape with gold outlines.
"Aside from some minor fixes, upgrades and maintenance, I added some neat stuff to this thing!" Gizmo gestured towards the gems inlaid in the armor. "Those are the gems from the mines in Kartilla, that desert town in the north." He said. "Remember how they could easily channel Chaos Energy through them? I discovered that they could easily channel the energy within the Life Rings just as well. With them on each limb, it lets the power flow through your body much easier, faster, and more efficiently." He then gestured to the side of the armor. "And as a bonus, I made a duplicate of the Magic Wings, and installed them directly into the armor itself. It works perfectly; Tried it myself!"

Smash and Pearl were simply staring at it with widened eyes. Smash was shocked at how much work he managed to get done in a single day, while Pearl was simply in awe of the results as a whole.

"So, What'dya think?"

"It's amazing..." Pearl said, softly. "I wonder what Dad would say if he saw it now...?"

Smash grinned. "It's perfect. I can't believe you put so much effort into this thing, really. I can't tell you how grateful I am for that."

Gizmo rubbed his nose with his finger, still grinning proudly. "Heheh, Well what can I say?" His grin quickly faded when he noticed Smash's hand in front of his face. In his palm, was quite a bit of cash. "H-huh?"

Smash smiled kindly at the young cat. "Here. You deserve every bit of it." He said.

Gizmo blinked, and looked up at him. "You're giving me all this...?"

"Of course. Don't worry about it, just take it. It was a job well done."

Gizmo stared at him for a few seconds, and then took the money into his hands. "T-..Thanks.." He stammered. "...This is the first time I've ever gotten paid for something I've done. And I didn't even make the armor. I just fixed it."

"Yeah well, Don't get used to it." Smash laughed. "Thanks a lot, pal. I'm going to take this back home, now. You should come over sometime."

Gizmo smiled cheerfully. "Sure thing!" He said. "I guess you're gonna wanna put it on before you go, right?"

Smash nodded. "Yep. And y'know what? I think I'll keep it on for a little bit. I wanna see for myself just how great this thing is."

"Okay!" Gizmo said.


After a few moments, Smash had changed into the armor once again. He took a moment to look at himself in a mirror. "Wow...I never realized how...different, I look with this on." He said.

Pearl giggled. "You look awesome, Smash." She said. "I don't think any fighter at the Blitz could stand up to you now!"

"Heh." He turned around to look at the two, soon noticing Kitty had joined them. "Well, you ready to go, Pearl?" He asked. She nodded, and he looked at Gizmo. "Sorry we're leaving so soon. But I'm expecting a call from Speedy sometime today, so I gotta go."

"Don't worry about it." Gizmo said. "Besides, I want to start working again." His face was beaming with excitement. "Working on that armor really inspired me. I really want to create something now...Maybe I'll make my own armor!"

"Sounds exciting!" Pearl said. "Can't wait to see what you come up with."

Gizmo chuckled a bit. "Thanks. I'll See you two later."

The two headed upstairs. "Bye, you two!" Pearl waved.

Gizmo and Kitty waved back. "Baaiii!!" Kitty called out, waving both hands at the same time.


Smash closed the door behind them, before they stepped onto the driveway towards his motorcycle. "Can't say I saw THAT coming, either."

Pearl giggled. "I wonder what other surprises this day has in store for us?" She asked, jokingly.

"Heh, yeah." Smash sat on the bike again. 'What I'm really wondering, though, is what info Speeder's got left for us...' He thought. 'We're already this close to solving this case...at this rate, we might be able to close it today.'

Added a little bit to the last bit of the latest chapter. I forgot that Gizmo was supposed to tell them that he was going to start working on something new.

Just got done reading it. Its so great Smash.^.^ Can't wait for the next one.

Thanks. ^^ Glad you're enjoying it so far.

For those of you who are interested. The armor, I've sprited it. Here, take a look.

Spoiler:

Soon, we had come to a large house in the middle of a clearing. The hills surrounding the area made it difficult to find, but Sarah knew the way, and lead us here. I looked up at the house, "...This is it?" I asked, uncertain of how to feel. It looked like a giant dollhouse, one that you'd get for little girls. The paint job was perfect; white with light blue out-linings around the windows, doors, corners, wherever they saw fit. The welcome sign that hung just above the front door was designed to look like ABC blocks, I'm sure of it.

"Yes, This is it." Sarah confirmed, in a cheery voice.

"This place really feels...different, from other houses." Smash commented.

"Helen and Trevor are toy makers." Sarah explained, "They designed their house to look like this, I'm guessing for emphasis or something among those lines. They planned to open up a shop in Green Flower City, while they make all the toys here."

"Won't they need some kind of factory though?" I asked, trying to imagine how they'd keep their business going with homemade toys. "And why all the way out here? The city's pretty far..."

"I don't know, they seem pretty confident about this though." She said. "They've come this far, so I'm happy for them."

Though I wasn't sure how they'd pull it off, she did have a point. If they managed to build a house like this, Making dozens of little toys shouldn't be a problem for them. "If you say so. Let's go and meet them." We then walked towards the front door of the house. As we approached, the smell of burning charcoal filled the area. "Looks like they've started the fire." I said. Sarah rang the doorbell for us. The jingle was unlike any I'd ever heard on a doorbell; It played a recording of a soft, but short melody, played on both piano and xylophone. When it ended, Pearl reached up to press the button again, but her mother stopped her.

"Please don't touch that, honey." She said. Right as she was finishing her sentence, the door opened. Standing in the doorway was a pale sky-blue colored echidna. Her skin was darker than most echidnas I'd ever seen.

"Sarah! You made it!" She chimed happily. I watched as she and my wife briefly embraced, wondering just how long they'd known each other. "And these are the kids? Aww!"
Pearl looked up at her with a cute smile, but I noticed that Smash seemed to feel awkward with her saying "Aw" about him. "My goodness, they've gotten big!"

"Yes, it's been a long while since I sent you any pictures, hasn't it?" Sarah said. "And this is my husband, David." Their attention turned to me.

I cleared my throat and shook her hand. "Nice to meet you." I said.

"The pleasure's all mine." She said. "My name's Helen. Please, come inside!"

She then lead us all into her house. I took a look around, and was rather surprised with the interior design. It was a very big house, that was for sure. Not only was the furniture designed to look like large toys, but I could see right up to the roof; there was no attic. There was a second floor that I could see from where we stood; it was just a couple of staircases leading to a small walkway with a few rooms and hallways on either sides of the house. But what really stood out the most, was the large tree growing in the middle of the room. There was even a sun roof just above it. I was both baffled and amazed by it. On the other side of the room, was a glass, sliding door leading outside to the back yard. I assumed that's where the actual barbecue was being held.

"So? What do you think?" Helen asked us, noticing that we all were looking around with interest. "We designed everything ourselves!"

"It looks great..Beautiful, even." Sarah said, "I'm shocked that you left the tree in here."

"Yeah, it was too much trouble to cut it down." She replied, scratching the back of her head sheepishly. "Don't ask for the details on that, but eventually I just said "Hey, What if we just built around it and let it stay in the living room?" And we just went with that."

"I'm just shocked that you made it work." I said. "It really makes the place feel more...lively."

"Hehe, thanks." Helen said. She looked over towards the tree, "I feel it was one of the best choices we made while designing the house. Our daughter loves to play under the tree, more than anywhere else in the house."

It was then when I noticed a small child, I'm guessing around Pearl's age, who resembled Helen. She was sitting under the tree, cradling what appeared to be a doll in her arms. "Is that her?" I asked.

"Yeah. Isn't she cute?" Helen looked down at Smash and Pearl, "Don't be shy now. You two can go and say hi to her."

"Okay!" Pearl cheerily skipped over to the tree. Smash looked up at Sarah, who smiled and gently nodded at him, assuring him that it was okay, before he followed after.

"We could leave the kids here to get acquainted for a bit," Helen suggested, "And we can go out back and I'll introduce you to my husband."

"Sounds good to me." I said. "Lead the way."
Helen was more than happy to. She was nearly skipping like Pearl on our way to the back. As we passed the tree, I glanced over at the kids, curious about how they would get along. I immediately noticed that the "doll" she was holding, was actually alive. It was a chao...


"Hi there!" Pearl stood beside the girl with her hands behind her back. The girl looked up at her, seemingly intimidated. "I'm Pearl. What's your name?"

She stared at her for a long while, but didn't answer. Smash walked up from behind Pearl, and gave her a funny look. "What's wrong? Didn't you know we were coming?"

She shook her head. "...I thought it was just Mama's friend..."

Smash scratched the side of his chin with his index finger. "I guess it was just supposed to be one of us, wasn't it?"

"Well my mommy said that she wanted all of us to come. She said that it's going to be really fun!" Pearl explained. The girl still looked somewhat nervous.

Smash sighed, and bent down near her. "I guess you haven't made many friends outside, have you?" He asked. "And you're not used to having guests like us over, right?" The girl looked down, shyly. "Don't worry, neither have we. We're not here to hurt you. My name's Smash. What's yours?"

She looked back up at them. "...Melody...I'm Melody."









Smash and Pearl entered the living room of their house through the garage door. "We're home!" Smash announced. "Did we get any phone calls?"

Luna walked into the room, holding a basket of laundry. "No we didn't." She said. "We're still expecting Speedy to ca-" She froze, suddenly, as her eyes met Smash's.

Pearl tilted her head to the side. "What's wrong?" She asked. "Are you okay?"

Smash knew immediately. She was staring directly at him, seemingly in shock. Her face was flushed with a crimson red color. "So that's the armor you were talking about..?" She asked. "You look so handsome wearing it, I might be falling in love all over again." She added with a giggle.

Smash slightly blushed, closing his eyes with a smile. "I was expecting a "Knight in Shining Armor" joke." He said. "Thanks, Honey."

"That will be your new title from now on." She declared, jokingly.

Pearl looked back and forth between the two, smiling nervously as a sweat drop rolled down the side of her face. "Alright alright, you two lovebirds." She said. "Back on the subject of Speedy, What are we going to do while waiting for him to ca-" Her sentence was cut off by the sound of the phone ringing.

"I'm guessing nothing." Smash said, grinning with amusement. "I'll get that." He walked by them, heading into the kitchen. Luna watched him pass by, still blushing slightly.

"I never would have thought armor would look so good on him." She said, as Pearl walked towards her.
"Nah, I think it's just that one in specific. Gizmo probably changed it to suit him more." Pearl said. "I think he did a pretty good job, too."

Smash picked up the phone and held it to his ear. "Hey!" He greeted, somewhat cheerfully. A few seconds of silence passed, as Smash waited for an answer. His smile faded the moment he heard the voice on the other end. His eyelids lowered halfway, and his face sulked. He could feel a vein mark on his forehead pulsing with irritation.

Pearl and Luna looked towards the kitchen as Smash walked out, wondering why they didn't hear any sort of conversation. "That wasn't Speedy?" Pearl asked, noticing his rather offended expression.

"No." He said. "Some dang automated voiced hunk-a-junk tryin' to sell me crap I don't need." Just then, they began to hear some music playing somewhere in the room. Pearl and Luna looked around in confusion, but Smash immediately relaxed, and held up his cell. "Ah, here we go. It's Speedy." He said. The two looked at him as he answered the phone. "Hey, Speedy."

"Hi, Smash." Speedy said over the phone. "I tried to call your house phone, but it said the line was busy. Hope you don't mind."

"Busy being spammed." Smash said. "I wish you'd have called like a minute earlier, some telemarketer beat you to the call."

"Aw man, I hate those guys!" Speedy said. "Anyway, I talked to my dad about everything, and he's actually expecting you to come over to the station at any time."

"Really?" Smash asked.

"Yeah. Since this is "Work related", he says, we can talk to him on the job."

"Well whaddya know? In that case, I'll head down there right now." Smash glanced over at Pearl and Luna, and gave them both the thumbs up. The two exchanged glances while smiling.

"Cool! I'm coming too. I guess I'll see you on the way?"

"Of course. See you soon!" He then hung up, and looked at the two girls. "Well, it looks like Speeder's open any time."

"Really?" Pearl asked. "You mean we can talk to him at work?"

"Yep!" Smash said. "And y'know, I think I'll keep this armor on. He might want to see it."

Pearl rose her eyebrow at him. "Oh really? I think you just want to show it off!" She teased.

Smash and Luna laughed. "Hey, I'm serious!" He said, though his laughter didn't make it sound very convincing.



About ten minutes later, Smash and Pearl were already on the road. The station wasn't too far from their house; they were already close to arrival. Soon, they both caught a glimpse of a familiar looking figure on the sidewalk, walking in the same direction as they were headed. Smash smirked a bit, and pulled over to the side of the road, stopping almost right next to him. "Yo, Speedy!" He said. "I expected you to be farther back. Thought I missed you for a while there."

Speedy grinned at him. "Ah, you underestimate me, Smash!" He boasted. "I'm disappointed. Speedy's my middle name! Of course I almost beat you there on foot."

Smash lowered his eyelids, raising an eyebrow in the process. "So your name's Speedy Speedy." He said, flatly.

Speedy's grin vanished as he realize what he'd just said. "Er, First name. You know what I mean!" He said quickly in embarrassment.

"Uh huh. Anyway, I'll see you at the station." Smash quickly sped off, leaving Speedy behind in a cloud of dust.

"Hey!" Speedy yelled, coughing a bit from the dust he kicked up.


About a minute later, they arrived at the Police Station. Smash parked his motorcycle, and the two got off and headed for the entrance. "I'm feeling rather anxious." Smash noted.
"Me too." Pearl said. "I want to find all the remaining answers as soon as possible..." She looked up at him, smiling sheepishly. "If I don't, it'll probably keep me up all night just thinking about it."
"Heh, if things go as well as yesterday, I don't think you have anything to worry about." Smash said. He opened the door for her, and the two walked inside.
As the door swung closed, the two siblings looked around the building. "He should be somewhere around here." Smash muttered. Soon, a police officer walked towards them.
"Umm...Can I help you?" He asked, eying Smash funny.
"Yes, have you seen Officer Speeder around here?" Pearl asked. "We were told that we could come and meet him here."
The officer looked behind him. "Thought I saw him a minute ago. I'll go get him for you." He turned and walked away.

Just as the officer was leaving, they heard a voice beside them. "Oh hey!" Speeder came to greet them. "I was wai-Whoa!" His jaw dropped, as he noticed the armor Smash was wearing. "Is that...?"

Smash nodded. "Yep. This is the armor I found in my dad's locker." He said. "I gave it to Gizmo, and this is what he did to it."

"Holy cow. I didn't think it'd look that grand. You look like a classic adventure hero!" He said, still looking surprised.

"I don't think that's too far from the truth, but thanks." Smash said. Pearl couldn't help but giggle at his reaction.

"A-ahem. Anyway, Speedy told me most of the story already. Let's go and sit down again."

"Someone call my name?" Speedy had just walked inside. "Hey, Dad."
Speeder smiled and tipped his hat. "'Afternoon, Son."
Speedy looked over at Smash, and his eyebrows shot up. "Whoa, cool! Is that the armor?" He exclaimed excitedly.

"Yep." Smash nodded. "Gizmo went all out with this thing. We can test it out later."

"Awesome! I can't wait." Speedy grinned like a giddy little kid. "I thought you were wearing something different back there but I didn't get a good look at it.

Speeder chuckled and looked back at Smash, "Come, let's sit back where we were before."

Smash nodded. "Okay." They then walked to the far end of the room, back at the same desk. Speeder pulled up a few more chairs for everyone else.
"Okay, what all have you found out?" Speeder asked, once everyone was seated. "Speedy tells me that you guys almost solved the whole mystery."

"Yeah. Well you see, I believe it went like this." Smash began to explain everything they had deduced the evening before.

After hearing the story, Speeder leaned back in his chair. "So there really wasn't a car accident...of course." He shook his head. "I probably could have figured out that much if I had just put my mind to it."

"The only thing we're missing is decisive evidence." Smash said. "Or any evidence at all."

Speeder nodded. "That's true." He said. "But I can tell you that your phone-call theory is most likely spot on." He took off his hat, letting a tuft of red hair to gently fall forward just above his eyes, and placed it on the table. "We were called for an emergency, I didn't remember the details on the call yesterday, but when I looked at some documents that I didn't send, I realized that the call was from the victim's cell."

"It was?" Speedy asked, raising his eyebrows.

"That's enough evidence for me." Smash said. "We were right..."

Speeder nodded. "I also don't remember anything about a car while I was out on the scene. Which made the false autopsy even more strange back then."

"Yeah, we know that has to be a fake by now." Smash said. "So the only problem is: What happened to the REAL autopsy?"

Pearl shook her head. "I bet if we found that missing man, we'd find out."

"Indeed." Speeder agreed. "The real report vanished with that man. That is assuming the real one was ever even created in the first place."

Smash's eyebrows shot up. "Yeah, I hadn't thought about that. It's possible that it doesn't even exist."

"Either way, we won't know until we find that man." Speeder said. "Unfortunately, I don't remember his name. But we have some records of him so we can find out easily enough."

"Good." Smash said. "I'd also like to know about that guy who replaced him, and handed out the fake report."

"And where he is now." Pearl added.

Speeder shrugged. "I dunno. I have no idea who that guy was."

"I don't suppose you'd have any records of him too, do you?" Pearl asked.

"I don't know about that either." He responded. "But I could look too." He looked at Smash. "Listen, I think you'd be better off talking to someone who knows better than I do about this." He said.

"Someone who knows better?" Speedy asked. "But who would-"

"The guy who retired, right?" Smash interrupted. Speeder nodded. "Where would I find him?"

"He's moved out to Techno Hill, wanting to get away from the city life." He said. "He's an ol' coon named Ben. I'm not entirely sure where in Techno Hill he is, but he's somewhere in the south-west part."

"Well there ain't many houses down there as far as I know," Smash said. "So he shouldn't be too difficult to track down."

"So, we'll be heading down there, then?" Pearl asked, looking at Smash.

"Yep. Let's go right now." He stood up. "Thanks for everything, Speeder."

"No problem." Speeder put his hat back on as he stood up. "Give my regards to Ben when y'see him."

"I will. See you later." Smash began to walk away as Pearl stood up from her chair to follow him.

Speeder looked back at his son. "Well, now. We've got some work to do." He said.

"We?" Speedy gave him a funny look.

"Of course. I want you to help me dig up any other info we can find on these guys." Speeder flashed him a grin. "If you do, I'll treat you to some ice cream."

Speedy leaped out of his chair. "Oh Boy! What're we waiting for!?" He nearly dashed away from the desk, if it wasn't for the fact that he didn't know the way. Speeder simply laughed, and took his son out back to the records room.


Outside, Smash and Pearl hopped back onto his motorcycle. "Smash, can we stop by our old house on the way?" She asked. "It should be just on the way there.."
Smash nodded. "Yeah, I remember. We'll take a break there if that's what you want."
"Thanks." She clutched his shoulders tightly, and rested her head on his back.
"Alright, let's go." He started up the motor, and pulled out of the parking lot.



At this time of the day, the traffic was fairly tame. It only took about 15 minutes for them to reach Greenflower Zone. Eventually they pulled up into the driveway of their old house. Pearl hopped off and slowly walked towards the house, but Smash stayed seated. 'It's been a long time...' He thought. 'I can't believe how much time has passed since then...' He got off the bike and followed Pearl up to the front door.
"I come here at least once a week," Pearl said as she took the house keys out of her pocket. "But after all that, this time feels much different now..."
"I haven't been here in years." Smash noted. "It feels really nostalgic to be back." Pearl unlocked the door and opened it, and the pair walked inside.

Smash looked around the house. It looked just how it did when he left. To his right was the living room, with a couch in front of a coffee table facing a large window, which let the sunlight in. There was a small, old TV on a night table by the window, one he remembered all too well. Further to the right was the brick fireplace and a pair of bookshelves on each side. In front of him was a small hallway which turned to the left to lead upstairs, along with an entrance to the kitchen just before the staircase. at the end of the hallway in front of him was a door leading to the bathroom.

"This place...holds many memories for me." He said. The vision of his smaller self running through the hallway briefly played through his mind.

"Both good and bad memories..." Pearl added. She remembered how she used to jump into her father's arms whenever he came home.

"Yeah..." They walked into the living room, and sat down on the couch. "And this place really hasn't changed much."

"I just tried to keep it clean, I didn't want to change it at all." Pearl said.

"Heh." Smash leaned back and looked over at the window. "Good job."

"Hehe, Thanks." Pearl giggled a bit. She leaned back as well, and looked up at the ceiling. The two stayed silent for a bit, as their thoughts drifted back to the old days. "Hey...Do you remember those delicious ice cream cakes that Mom used to make?"

"Oh yeah, the cakes that were half ice cream, right?" Smash said, looking at her at the corner of his eye. "I remember those." An amused smile spread across his face. "Heh, Nowadays I'd have rejected the mere thought of it because of how absurd it sounds. But Dang, those were good."

"And then she made one with chocolate ice cream, with mint chocolate chips inside." Now she was getting hungry just thinking about it. "How did she do it? I could never figure it out. I always made a big sloppy mess in the kitchen."

"Haha, I'm sure there's a recipe for it somewhere." Smash reassured. "I doubt she came up with it herself. Mom wasn't THAT crazy."

Pearl laughed. "Yeah, maybe so." She said.
The room quieted down a bit, as they both were soon lost in thought. Smash stood up, and walked towards the window. He pulled the curtains back a bit more to let some more sunlight come through, and give him a clear view outside. As the light shone on his face, he felt a wave of nostalgia flood over him. "I remember watching the sunset through this window." He said, still looking outside. The sun was still high, but it was beginning to lower. "I always felt at peace when I looked outside from here. Something about the view, and I still feel it today."

"I know just what you mean." Pearl said. "It gives me the same feeling."
Smash walked back and sat down next to her again, letting out a relaxed sigh. "Do you remember...that one time Mom got sick?" She asked, again.

Smash looked at her. "You mean when she got really sick and the doctors said that she had little chance of making it during the winter?" He asked. She nodded, and he looked back towards the window. "Yeah...I remember that all too well..." He said. "The doctor prescribed some super expensive medicine for her that we couldn't afford." His face scrunched up into a glare. "Thinking of it now, he was probably just trying to scam us by saying she wasn't gonna live unless she got the medicine, and scare us into buying it." He closed his eyes. "Dad was desperate, though. Desperate enough to make me the man of the house while he worked his butt off trying to rake in enough cash."

"And it seemed like he was right about Mom's condition anyway." Pearl added. "For a while I thought she wasn't going to make it..."

"They pulled through, thankfully." Smash said. "He came back with some other medicine that he got and it worked perfectly."

"Where'd he get that, anyway?" Pearl asked.

Smash shrugged. "Uhh...If I remember correctly, he said he was summoned to a tournament elsewhere...and..." He paused, trying to think of how that really made sense.
"I was one of the many fighters deemed worthy to be summoned to a championship, which seemed to take place somewhere in space..." A voice played back in his mind. His eyes widened as he remembered his father telling this to him. "The host was generous, and gave that medicine to me after hearing what I was fighting for."
"He was..." His voice trailed off, as suddenly it hit him. 'W-wait a minute. "one of the many fighters deemed worthy to be summoned to a championship"? That seems so familiar...Is it possible that he was summoned to the Cosmic Championship?' He was shocked as he remembered talking about his father to the host after he himself was summoned to the championship.
"I do remember fighting an echidna myself. I don't remember his name, but I believe he did look a little like you. If we are thinking of the same person, then you should be proud. He almost beat me." The host's words played back in his mind.

"Uh, Smash? Are you okay?" Pearl asked, looking worried. He was spacing out, with his mouth hanging open and his eyes widened.

Smash snapped back into reality and looked at her. "That's it...Dad was summoned to the Cosmic Championship. The host is the one who gave him that medicine!"

Pearl's eyebrows shot up. "Wait, really? Wow..!"

Smash fell back into deep thought again. 'He almost beat the host...That really was him. The host was the REAL challenge, I'm sure. Nobody could even see him, he was like some kind of nearly omnipotent invisible spirit. I don't know how anyone actually fought him, but to nearly beat him? After all this time, it looks like my dad still surpasses me...'

"I vaguely remember that we were just coming back home from somewhere, when mom got sick." Pearl said. "I don't remember where we were, though. I know we had all gone out together..."

Smash looked back at her. "I believe we were visiting someone. Dunno who, though."

"I see..." Pearl looked down at her lap for a few seconds, then looked back up at Smash. "Oh! Sorry, I guess I held us up reminiscing on our childhood." She said, sheepishly.

"Nah, it's okay." Smash assured, "Let's relax a bit longer before heading out. We've still got almost a full day left. Remember when we first met Speedy?"

Pearl smiled. "Yeah, He was one of your first fans."
The two stayed in the living room, chatting about the events of the past for the next couple of hours. It felt good to take a break, and take a chance to relax after several hours of anxiety.

Y'know, I've been thinking. What's going to happen in Season 4? By the time Memories of David The Echidna is done, the gang will have resolved every lingering problem in the series. The Dark Kirby Saga, The whole deal with the organizations, including the Black Rose Orphanage, The Mystery of Skull Cross and avenging Jenny, Solving the mystery behind the death of Smash's Parents, and the disappearance of Razor Claw, and other things that I won't mention due to spoilers. All those lingering conflicts will be resolved by then. Not to mention the characters have grown up a great deal since the beginning. I mean, Smash is married and has 3 kids. That alone is proof. It won't just feel like a season finale, but a series finale.
It's going to feel somewhat like a separate series from then on. Like a spin-off, or like a sequel series which could be counted as another set of seasons, but, yeah. I just wonder, now what's going to happen to the gang? What lies in store for them now...? Well I know what the first episode will be, but other than that, I have no idea what's going to happen to them all. I haven't been RP'ing with my brothers in a while. And we've been starting a completely new and original series, so our fanon stuff hasn't been getting much attention lately. That was where the majority of our episodes and story arcs came from. In fact, the Mystery of Skull Cross was quite possibly the only lingering story arc that wasn't by us.

Because of all of this, it really feels to me like the ending of MoDTE is going to be the end of the whole series. If that ends up being the case, I'd better make the ending as best as possible. Then again, I'd better do that anyway.

Wait, so your saying this is the end of your series. End of series as of end of series all together or end of series such as end of first part of a three-series meta series?

I'm saying that it feels like the end. I don't think it's really gonna end, but with all the lingering important story arcs being completed, (at least by the end of this story, they all will be.) it feels like all the characters will finally be at peace with themselves, which is one of the most important things. If the series is gonna end in any sort of way, then it'd probably be the end of, like you said, some kind of three-series meta series (I think.) except there would most likely be two parts.

Also isn't Pearl's adopted daughter from Ace Attorney's (or one of those Roleplays) named Melody the Echidna as well? Did she name it after THIS Melody?