Illusions and Lies (A Super Smash Brothers fan fiction)

CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE: PROVE IT.

Warnings: Semi-detailed descriptions of blood and violence. This occurs from when Ike is walking into the spooky building until the end of the chapter. Read at your own risk.

"Chrom, you wanted to see me?" Ike asked as he walked into the command center. It had been three weeks since the initial draft, and already Ike was throwing himself into assignments. 

"Ah, Ike. There you are." Chrom looked up from the report he was reading. "The data on the assignment you've been asking about finally came in." 

"Great. I appreciate this, Chrom. I know that nobody else has actually been out on an assignment yet, so this is..." Ike trailed off in the middle of his sentence, unwilling to finish his thought. 

Chrom sighed."None of the others have shown progress significant enough to warrant sending them on assignments. I must say that I'm quite surprised with how quickly you've picked up some of the techniques you've been taught."

"It's just practice. A lot of practice." Ike shrugged. "This stuff might save my life or someone else's one day. I've got to make sure I know what I'm doing, and once I get the basics, I can go out and help people better." 

"A very noble sentiment." Chrom said, regarding Ike with a well-disguised hint of respect in his eyes. 

"It's just being a decent person." Ike replied firmly. "If you'll excuse me, sir? I should get going."

"Yes, of course. Safe travels." Chrom nodded his head in dismissal. To be polite, he waited until Ike exited the room to return to his reports. Sighing, he shook his head. "Running a semi-underground militia involves far too much paperwork." Chrom grumbled under his breath. 

Ike returned to his apartment with the assignment data in one hand and a breakfast sandwich in the other hand. In his defense, it was early in the morning, and he hadn't had time to make himself breakfast before he ran off to the Rebellion's headquarters to meet with Chrom. 

Either way, it was a really good breakfast sandwich. Probably because it had come from Delfino Dumplings and More. Somehow, Ike managed to unlock the door of his apartment without too much struggling. 

Once he was inside, he finished the breakfast sandwich before going over the papers. Pretty basic stuff- there was a gang causing trouble on the East Side, which was where the Merchant's Guild was headquartered. After finalizing his strategy, Ike got up and moved over to where he kept Ragnell when he wasn't using it. 

The golden sword had quite a bit of weight to it, seeing as it was meant to be used with two hands. Ike liked that, though. It felt a lot better in his hands than those lame practice swords that the Headmaster had forced him to use. He'd also started fighting with armor, on the combat professor/co-leader of the rebellion Alm's recommendation. It turned out that both Alm and his wife Celica taught the recruits in their spare time, and what Chrom had said about the duo was very true. Alm was rather impulsive for someone who lead an army as well as taught recruits, and Celica was his voice of reason. 

If Ike was being honest, it was amazing to see the two of them working together like they did. Someday, maybe he would have that kind of a relationship. 

A slight smile crept onto Ike's lips as he shook his head gently to clear it. He was getting sentimental. There were several things that he would need to do before he'd even consider himself worthy of such a relationship. 

And one of those things happened to be proving his own worth. Ever since that brief conversation with Robin, Ike hadn't been able to get the white-haired boy's words out of his head. 

You never really do anything that sticks out in my head. 

Ike sighed and picked up his left gauntlet. He slipped it on before reaching for the right gauntlet, making sure both were secure once they were on. His left gauntlet had more armor on it than the right one did, which he'd already had to use to his advantage in several assignments. Next, he reached for the chain mail shirt he would wear under his blue, black, and gold tunic. It was a precaution, of course. After that, he put on his tunic. He was already wearing the tan-colored trousers that he usually wore with this whole ensemble, since they were comfortable. Ike adjusted his belt before turning his attention to the metal pad he wore over his heart. He had to adjust that strap a little, but otherwise it was fine.