Paradigms

[MessengerOfDreams]

Hello one and all, and welcome to my contest entry for Souldin's assist trophy contest. I'm MessengerOfDreams. Remember the name. XD

When I looked at the assist trophy list, me having not often played the game before, I saw Kat and Ana, from Warioware. I knew some stuff about Warioware, and I figured that I could get behind the idea of nature-loving 6 year old ninja twins. Plus who else is gonna be doing that? XD

Out of curiosity I looked at the stickers. I noticed that a lot of characters from my favorite non SSB game, Advance Wars series, were stickers in the game. I focused on two, which were my two favorite characters in the game. One of them was Hawke.

So I present to you Paradigms, a sticker/assist trophy hybrid. Formerly known as Iris. FORMERLY KNOWN AS IRIS. -THIS IS IMPORTANT.

Remember, I own nothing, regret nothing, I let them forget nothing.

MoD.
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paradigm (ˈpærəˌdaɪm)

— n

4. (in the philosophy of science) a very general conception of the nature of scientific endeavor within which a given enquiry is undertaken

paradigm shift-

— n

-a radical change in underlying beliefs or theory
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Chapter 1-In Which Ana's and Hawke's Paradigms Crash Into Each Other

"Flowers!"

Ana looked just below her to see a group of flowers surrounding her. She was in the middle of a small clearing in a forest full of hundreds of them, but she had just now noticed the colorful bunch now.

The inquisitive 6 year old smiled in awe as she beheld the sight. "Look at all the colors! And all the different shapes and, there's all those tall ones over there and all the short ones over there!" She jumped around a little bit and giddily squealed "This is so cool!"

She plopped down gently and started to look at a violet meaningfully. She put a small hand on a petal and smiled, not doing much in particular but enjoying it that way. After a little bit, she reached into her little knapsack and pulled out crayons and a notepad. She looked around, in thought as if she was making a really important decision and finally settled on a white-petaled daisy. She giggled in anticipation as she got out her favorite green (Shamrock), her favorite yellow (Goldenrod) and her only white.

Determined, she started drawing the stem, a little curvy line that had little leaves on the bottom, the yellow heart of the flower, a circle in the middle with little dots where she pushed the crayon in too hard, and then, satisfied, started to work on the petals.

She got her white out and started to draw a petal, but then frowned at her situation. She had forgotten to take into account that she had white paper and the white crayon wasn't showing up.

She sat there and thought, looking at the crayons to speed her thought process up. Then her face lit up as she said "Of course!" and picked up a black crayon.

She took the crayon and drew the outline of the petal, excited that she solved the problem. Then she drew another one, and another one, and another one, and then finally, she finished.

She picked up her notepad, looked and then with a grin did her best impression of an artist, saying "Bravo! It'sa perfect-a picture!" She ended up sounding like Italian, like The Vinshe guy she read about at school. She loved flowers soooooo much and she wanted to draw the best flowers ever.

Then she spotted what she really wanted to see. To her right she saw a whole trail of 'em. They were her favoritest flowers ever ever, and one of the only flowers besides daisies and roses and violets and other easy flowers she knew the name of.

"Irises!"

She saw them stretch along a trail through the woods along the sides. There were so many of them, and she was so happy to see them. She picked up her knapsack and started to walk down it, but then she remembered.

"Oh yeah," she said thoughtfully. "Kat said I can't go too far from the big smashy house." She referred to the Smasher's Mansion where all her friends lived while they played their fighting games. She got a sneaky smile on her face and then concluded "Well, I guess I'll just have to be extra ninja-y today."

She put her knapsack on and then snuck behind a tree. When she was sure that no one was looking, she climbed up as fast as her little legs took her and started to jump through the trees. It was one of her favorite things she did.

She looked below her as she kept jumping. No one noticed her, and that's cause she was the best ninja ever. She and her sister, Kat, were ninjas from Diamond City that came to the Smash Mansion as an assist trophy. An assist trophy meant, as far as Ana knew, that sometimes she and Kat got to fight with the others for a little bit and that they were also here to help Mr. Wario, their boss from the microgame factory, with stuff while he lived at the mansion.

She followed the flowers from above until the trees stopped, where she shimmied down and started to tiptoe along the trail as it entered a clearing. She gasped quietly in awe as she found that the clearing had even more flowers here than the one in the forest. The one in the forest was seemed miniscule in comparison to this one. By the entrance were giant sunflowers, and then from there were flowers of all colors- pink, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet- stretching along the ground like a perfect zigzag rainbow.

Ana looked upon this, squealed, and then pretended to fall out dramatically. She got up, giggled, and then started to run around in pure jubliation, still being careful not to step on the flowers too hard. She was just about to plop down and start drawing when she saw him.

Sitting on a downed log, plopped in the middle of the only patch of the clearing with no plants or life on it not too far from her was a man. He was a tall man, with silver hair, and a big black trench coat that made it impossible to see anything else except for his arms. Curiously, Ana started tiptoeing towards him, trying to put her ninja skills to good use. She was about to tap him in the shoulder when she remembered something she learned at school. They called it Stranger Danger and it taught her never ever to talk to strangers.

A bit scared, she started to tiptoe away, finding a nice-looking group of flowers and sat down again. She tried to think about how pretty the colors were but all she could think about was the man sitting there, and how lonely he looked. She looked at him again, a bit sad, and decided that she can at least look at him. It's not like Kat has to know.

She tiptoes to him again, craning her neck around sneakily so she can see his face but that she wouldn't be seen. She took a good look at him and saw that he had his eyes closed. She sighed in relief, then put a hand over her mouth to quiet it. She tiptoed in front of him quietly and waved a hand in front of his face to make sure he couldn't see her. He didn't react, so she stopped. She looked at him from this new angle. His tanned face was turned straight forward, as if staring at something far away, but his eyes were closed. His mouth was a flat, slightly down turned line, snapped shut, and his hands sat in his lap, clenched together like a steeple.

Ana looked at him back from the side again, waiting for him to move. She sat there for 2 minutes, waiting for even a little flicker but seeing nothing. She started to get bored of waiting, and walked up to him and tapped him on the shoulder. He didn't move. She tapped harder. He still didn't move.

Ana started to get worried that he wasn't moving. Is he okay? she thought. She climbed on the log and stood up so she was level to the man's face. She grabbed his cheek and pulled it tightly, seeing if he would react. He didn't react. More worried than before, she took a handful of his hair and pulled it hard. He still didn't move.

As a last resort, she pulled his ear and whispered into it "Mister, are you okay?"

She got a response. "Kindly stop." the man said, his voice betraying no annoyance.

Ana giggled a little as she jumped off the jog. "Oh thank goodness. I thought you were dead!"

The man grunted in response.

"I'm Ana." the young ninja said, holding a hand out. The man did not accept the handshake.

Confused, she asked him "You have a name, don't you mister? Everyone has a name!"

The man only said "Hawke," his eyes still not opened.

"Nice to meet ya, Hawke!" Ana said cheerfully. "So, whatcha doing?"

With a small grunt of annoyance, he said "Concentrating."

"Ooh," she replied, not catching the hint. "Concentrating on what?"

Hawke didn't reply to her this time. Ana looked confused and said "Mister, are you okay? You look really lonely."

"Shouldn't you be heading back home? Isn't anyone wondering where you are?" Hawke asked.

"No, it's okay! My sister said I could come out here!" Ana replied. It was a half-truth, if her sister knew that she had gone this far into the forest, she would be in big trouble. Kat may have been her twin, but she was the boss. Or at least she sure was bossy.

"Hmph."

She looked at Hawke again, who still didn't look happy. She sighed a little out of exasperation. Her face lit up and she looked around until she found the perfect flower. She only did this if it was really really necessary but this man seemed really sad. She came to a rose, one with only a couple of thorns, and picked it out of the ground. She ran back over to Hawke and put the flower by his folded hands and said "Here you go, Mister Hawke! This is for you!"

He felt the flower in his hand, and suddenly his eyes shot open. Ana could tell by the look in them that he was shocked, and maybe mad. She whimpered a little bit but didn't move.

"You should never, ever pick flowers out of the ground like that." he said, his words harsh but even. "These flowers are a treasure and the world would be a desolate place without them. To destroy them with no reason like this is... it's horrible. Never do that again."

Ana was more than a little startled by this. She picked up her nearby knapsack and started running off to a nearby tree, which she started to climb. Soon after, she could no longer be heard.

Frustrated, Hawke put his hand through his hair, grabbing it in a clump. He hadn't meant to be so harsh on the little girl. If she only knew, though.

BANG!

A shot rang through the air of the headquarter building, and not to Hawke's surprise, it hit its target. Two red cords were severed as the bullet passed through them like it was paper mache. An old man, sitting in a large floating chair above them, gasped as his strength started to seep out of him. "What happ..." he choked out before he fell out to the ground, slumped over, barely conscious but not yet dead.

"I destroyed your life support system." Hawke stated, putting the pistol in his trench coat. "It's over, Von Bolt."

Indeed it was. The war that had taken the better part of 6 months was over at last. Over that 6 months the old man, Von Bolt, had taken the energy of their world, the life of the very earth, and used it for his own personal gain, keeping himself alive for years past when he should have died.

Von Bolt had assumed command of the Black Hole armies, currently scattered from their previous war, and started to lead them in an attack against the other four Allied Nations; Orange Star, Blue Moon, Green Earth and Yellow Comet. Hawke was the former second of command of the Black Hole army when he discovered Von Bolt's plan, and fled for his life with his co-commander to the Allied Nations, who welcomed them with skeptic arms.

And all the fighting had led up to this. And now that he had severed Von Bolt's life force, it was over.

The old man choked out "Hawke...? You... hrng... you..." before he fell unconscious, powerless.

Traitor? Hawke thought to himself. Wouldn't have been the first time I was called that.

A young man walked up to Hawke. He wore headphones on top of his sandy blond hair most of the time, but he had taken them down to his neck during the final battle. He looked at Von Bolt's frail body and said "Hawke..." But he didn't know what else to say. He was the one who was going to shoot Von Bolt, but he couldn't find the strength to do so.

Hawke looked at him understandingly, forgivingly. "To fight one evil, you must use another," he said. He frowned deeper as memories from before pecked at him and said "It's a fitting role for me."

At that moment, a horrifying RUMBLE RUMBLE was heard. A redheaded woman, sporting combat boots, camo pants, a tank top and a large gun, turned to the person nearest to her immediately deduced "The base is shaking!" in shock.

The man she turned to, a large, muscled man with blue hair and a sleeveless t-shirt turned to everyone and announced "It's gonna collapse!"

The lead commander, a orange-haired young woman wearing a formal red suit and hat, gave out her order "Everyone evacuate, now!"

Immediately, all the commanders from the army started to flee the building, before it could collapse on them. Hawke simply stood there, looking around him, down at Von Bolt and then straight at the chair, dead set on his mission. A young woman with a black frizzy hair and pale white skin, dressed in the odd choice of knee-high boots, a large gothic cape and a black shirt and shorts looked at him intently, motioning desperately for him to leave with her hands. He shook his head silently, mouthing "No, Lash." , causing the expression of the girl to fall into sadness.

The sandy-haired young man looked back at Hawke, stopped next to Lash and said "Hawke, come on man, let's split!"

Hawke shook his head and said "I still have... one last job." He sighed, almost speaking to himself as he said "Here we are. At the end of everything... and all I could do is take. I am no different from this old man."

He looked up at the young man and said "Jake... I wish I had met you... before." He looked at Lash, and for the first time in several years, smiled, one of rocky warmth and sadness.

Then the building collapsed between the three of them, leaving Jake and Lash on the other side of the building as him. Hawke sank back into a frown as he quickly got into Von Bolt's chair and started to maneuver it out of the building, it levitating off the ground, which collapsed around him. He could vaguely hear Jake and Lash crying for the others to help him, which faded over time as they and Hawke got further away from each other.

A little bit after he escaped, floating like a hovercraft out the top, he saw the building collapse completely into a sniveling pile of rubble. He saw little specks of the Allied Nation army below him, thousands of feet away. He knew they could not see him, and he preferred it that way.

Well, he thought, time to begin.

When he was far away from where he was, he came to a large desert patch. It was no different than the other large desert patches that Omega Land now seemed to consist entirely of since Von Bolt had gotten far into his attacks, but it was a start.

He landed the chair and examined it. He wasn't sure how to get it to work, to release the energy, but soon he figured it out. He looked at the bottom, a large glowing orb, and saw that there was a cap on the bottom. It was a small, small cap but took an amazing amount of strength to open. He managed to get it open for a second, and energy, however invisible it was, started to seep out. After it just being open for a second, the whole area started to grow more lively, almost instantaneously. Panicked, he shut the cap, it shutting much easier than it opened, and watched as the area grew in immense speed, and within seconds, patches of grass and little seedlings of plants were developed in the ground. Hawke watched, astounded, as he saw life starting to take effect in the little area that was once just a patch of desert.

And so it continued for months. He would quietly, invisibly, fly through the land, letting little bits of energy into the soil and watch as life took its baby steps back onto Omega Land. He would fly above the places he already started, and saw that they had returned to about normal. Once he passed a hillside, one of the first he energized, and he saw two figures sitting on top, hands entwined, looking at the view with occasional glances at each other.

It was Jake and the commander of the Allied Nations, Rachel, who had evacuated the group that first day. He knew they had been close and was glad to see the two of them there.

But he knew he could not return. This world may have been restored by him, but it could not be his any longer.

On the day where he knew that Omega Land was restored to its fullest, the day when the cap was easily opened, the day when the orb on the bottom glowed less than ever before, the day when he could barely fly 20 feet above the ground, that was the day when he left Omega Land. Before he got too far away, when he was above the water, he remembered something. He reached into his coat, took out the pistol he had taken Von Bolt out with. He gave it one last look, and then threw it into the ocean as he soared away from Omega Land for the last time.

Across the oceans he flew, until he ended up somewhere that was unfamiliar. He landed the chair outside of a large city, in a patch of dry land just outside of the forest with a downed log in the middle. He opened the cap for the last time and let all the energy seep out from under it. He moved the chair around as it started to sink to the ground, creating the makings of a beautiful garden in a ring around the log. When all the energy fizzled out and the chair sank dully to the ground, he took out a lighter.

This was to be his last act of destruction he would ever create.

He set the chair on fire, watching it burn into twisted metal and into ashes slowly. When the fire was strong, he threw the lighter in there and before it could get too bad, took his trench coat off and waved the flames away.

He sat on the log and looked around him, as the grass came to a stop 4 inches high and little flowers started to come out of the ground. This was the mark he left on this new world. This new world would now be his home.

[RedLink]

Nice Story MOD! Im thinking that girl likes flowers? :3 Also I have no idea who those people you named at the bottom so yeah 0.o
Good Luck in your contest 8.5/10

[MessengerOfDreams]

Chapter 1 finished. I wrote the last 5 or 6 paragraphs while listening to this. Spiritual.

[KevinOC]

Your reward is here.

[Myst]

What's this, a post from me? And furthermore, something useful in it? Blasphemy.

Well, you've got me hooked. I'll admit, I was a little skeptic at first, there just didn't seem to be very much of a plotline developing. Needless worrying- you clearly know how to work a story. The young girl at the beginning (Ana?), however... some problems there. It's not such a big deal anymore, now that you've brought Hawke into the story (who is he, anyway? The name sounds familiar...) but before she seemed... unrealistic. Maybe it's just my personal experience, but my five-year-old sister isn't quite that flighty. Anyway, appropriate dialogue (not sure if it was intended, it's hard to tell; either way, it worked) for both Ana and Hawke, and the transition to his memory was masterfully done.

In conclusion, if you don't finish this, I'll be annoyed. You've got something great here, and it would be a shame to let it die. "To destroy [it] with no reason... it's horrible." Deep parting words.

That being said: 9.5/10, for a few grammatical errors throughout. Also, first story review ever- might need to be harsher next time.

[MessengerOfDreams]

Chapter 2-In Which Ana Tries to Understand Hawke's Paradigm

Ana woke up on the wrong side of the bed the next morning. Namely, she had fallen off of it. She groaned as she opened her eyes, wondering how she had gotten down there. She looked up to her bed and saw that her sister Kat had brought a bunch of friends into her room. Toon Link, Lucas, and Nana formed a circle with the older ninja twin, all of them in a circle surrounding a box of crayons and pieces of paper. Ana got up slowly, feeling a bit of pain in her ribs.

Kat took notice of her and said "Oh good morning sleepyhead. I brought my friends in the room. I knew you wouldn't mind."

Ana sighed, but said nothing more as she wobbled to her feet. She still had her favorite outfit on from yesterday, which hadn't gotten dirty. No surprise there, Ana was the cleanest girl she knew; in fact, that anyone knew. If there were ever a stain on her clothes, it was only grass stains.

She started to walk out the door when someone said "Hey Ana, do you need any help getting breakfast?" She turned around to see Natalia "Nana" Kraal smiling at her behind the crayon set. Nana, half the duo of the left-field fighting team Ice Climbers, was fifteen years old, almost three times Ana's own age of six, but enjoyed hanging out with the younger kids all the same. Ana thought she was pretty nice, even though they didn't talk much. Not that Ana really talked much with anyone, though.

Before she could answer Nana, not that she would have, Kat did for her. "Oh don't leave, Nana! Ana can get her own breakfast!"

Nana shrugged dubiously, but said "Okay…" and went back to her coloring after giving Ana a small smile. Ana went red and dashed out of her room, and towards the kitchen.

The Smash Mansion was pretty big, but none too fancy. The giant hand who was supposed to be the boss liked it that way, she heard him say once that it prevented the smashers from getting a God complex, whatever that meant. The kitchen was no exception, it looked sort of like the one back at Wario's minigame factory. It was a simple wood design, and it had a couple of fridges and sinks and other such things.

Ana skidded to a halt in front of one of the open cabinets, where she saw her favorite cereal, Rainbow Sprinkles, on the top shelf. She frowned. This wasn't going to be easy.

Someone walked up behind her, causing her to jump with an "eep!" into the air. She turned around to see a tall man standing there with a sheepish smile. He wore a helmet, a scarf and a blue suit. "Sorry about that," he chuckled. "Didn't mean to scare you, miss."

Ana shrugged. "It's okay, Mr. Captain Falcon." she told him as she set her sights back on the box of cereal.

Falcon noticed. "You need some help there, sport?"

Ana shook her head, and stood there for a few more seconds before taking action. And action she took. She took a big leap onto a parallel counter, steadying herself on the ridged wood, and then before Falcon could even comprehend that she had leapt up there, she had jumped back across to the large open cabinet, landing just inside the tall top shelf, next to the cereal. She smiled, grabbed it, and jumped back onto the first countertop where she stopped to take a breath. This had all transpired in less than ten seconds.

Falcon was impressed. "Wow," was all he said.

Ana nodded with a smile, not looking at him as she went to get a bowl. "I'm a ninja," she said proudly. "May you please pass me the milk, Mr. Captain Falcon?"

"Please, call me Falcon!" he laughed as he opened the nearby refrigerator.

Ana took the milk from him with a "Thank you," as she poured her cereal and ate it right on the countertop, having it done in five minutes flat. That was Ana, clean and efficient.

She hopped down and walked towards the door, but stopped when she heard a voice say "Ana, where are you going?"

"Outside," she replied politely to Princess Zelda.

"Are you sure?" the princess replied, sounding a little bit disappointed. "You don't want to play with the other kids?"

Ana gave it little thought. "Not really."

"You sure?" Zelda pressed one more time. "You never really do at all."

Ana sighed, exasperated. "Can I please go outside, Princess Zelda? I really, really want to!"

Zelda raised an eyebrow but said "Okay… but stay close!"

Ana needed no more encouraging. Without even remembering to say "Thank you," she was already running outside, this time not bringing a crayon box. She had a feeling that Kat had let Lucas use hers.

Down a trail through the woods she went, knowing her intent. Not even five minutes later, she had found the small clearing from the previous day. It still looked as pleasant as ever, but ever since she had seen that big clearing further out, this one seemed a bit pale. She sighed, plopped down and started to look for bugs on the flowers. But her mind was somewhere else.

Or rather, with someone else.

Every time she looked at a flower, all she could think of was Hawke's face when she picked the flower for him. He looked so… sad. And Ana couldn't stop feeling bad that she had made him so upset.

But he was kind of scary, like the stranger danger people were talking about. He never smiled, and he always seemed so… far away, even though he was right there.

Maybe she should go back to the clearing and apologize for picking the flower, if he was even there. Yeah, that was what she would do. Just apologize, and then leave him alone before Kat found out and got really mad.

Yeah, that sounded like a good idea.

Hawke walked into the large clearing from a different trail. He had parked his beat up Oldsmobile at the foot of the trail as he did every afternoon. He enjoyed this clearing, formerly the patch of dirt he had found when he first arrived. This was the one place he could truly call his own… the one place where he did something decent.

He often meditated here, just to enjoy the field of life he had created; or at the very least, where he made a good thing out of a bad. Over the last day though, his thoughts had turned from a clear, uninteresting pool of spring water to a tumultuous, raging rapid heading fast downstream.

Ever since he had seen that little girl pick the flower yesterday, he had awakened a beast inside him, a beast created almost entirely out of his past and memories. One would think that meditating would help this sort itself out, but all Hawke got was just his subconscious berating him. And to be honest, he had come to this world in order to escape his former troubles, and that flower had brought them all back.

He sighed at that thought as he walked through the fields towards his log. Suddenly, he heard a voice. An oh-so-familiar voice.

"Oh, Hawke! Mister Hawke? Are you here?"

A quick three-sixty turn around the field confirmed his suspicions- the nearly four foot tall girl, dressed in a blue tunic, shorts held up by a purple cloth belt and blue shorts; her orange pigtails shining brightly in contrast to the pine of the trees. She had a hand acting as a visor just above her eyes as she looked for him. Before he could take any form of action, she turned around and saw him. "Oh! There you are, Mister Hawke!" Ana said with a satisfied lilt, as she started to run over to him. Instinct got the better of her though and she stopped about ten feet away from him, looking down.

Hawke raised an eyebrow. "Yes, I am right here. What is your point?"

Ana turned a slight shade of red and started her apology. "Uhm, Mister Hawke, I'm sorry I picked that flower yesterday. I didn't know it would have made you so sad."

Sad? Hawke was puzzled. The way he remembered yesterday, he seemed angry, horrified even, at her. Not sad. What gave her that idea?

"Ana, I-"

Having not heard him, she continued. "Y'see, I love flowers soooo much, and I never like to pick 'em either. But you seemed kinda sad yesterday so I thought the flower would think it's okay if I picked it, cause making people happy are what flowers do best, and it just made you even sadder, and I di-"

"Ana."

Hawke had taken this time to sit down in an emptier space of grass and put a hand on her shoulder as he addressed her firmly, but without any anger. Ana looked at his hand, somewhat startled out of what she was saying. She wasn't as startled as Hawke himself. He didn't remember the last time he had ever laid a hand on anybody, not since Jake had shaken his hand in a truce right outside of an early victory ceremony. And before that… not since he was a youth.

Ana looked at Hawke, still somewhat surprised, and told him "Go ahead, Mister Hawke."

Hawke pulled away slowly and started his own apology. "I apologize, Ana, for having snapped at you that way yesterday. It wasn't your fault, your intentions were good."

Even though Ana didn't know what intentions meant, she knew what good meant, and that meant… something good. "It's okay, Mister Hawke."

Hawke walked over to the log, watching, unresisting, as Ana followed him. He took a seat and asked her "Would you like me to tell you a story?"

Plans to get back before Kat got mad or anyone noticed went out the proverbial window as Ana's eyes lit up and she squealed "Sure!" She loved stories, after all.

How to go about this… he thought. "Once upon a time, in a land far, far away-"

"Is this a real story?" Ana raised an eyebrow incriminatingly. "Cause I like real stories. Unless they're sad. But all make believe stories start with 'Once upon a time, in a-" she came to her senses and ended her line with "…go ahead."

"Yes, Ana, it's a real story." Hawke responded. "And it really did take place in a land far, far away. It was called Omega Land.

"A really beautiful place. It was once so full of life, so gorgeous. Like this meadow. But then, an evil old man in a floating chair named Von Bolt decided that he wanted all of Omega Land's life for himself, so he could live forever.

"He got his armies together and started to attack-" he stopped at this and added "…this isn't too scary for you, is it?"

With poignancy beyond her years, she responded with "Well, once I fought a Diamond Troll, so no. I'm not scared."

Hawke almost smiled at this as he continued. "He started to attack Omega Land and clear it out, all the while sucking the land from its energy and putting it into his chair, where he took it in. Therefore, he lived decades after he would have died."

"Then?" Ana pressed on.

"Then people from Cosmo Land came in. Von Bolt's armies were people who had fought with Cosmo Land before. I joined them and eventually we fought him all the way back to his horrible creation, the Grand Bolt." That was a half-truth; Lash had unwittingly created the first Oozium, the genetic mutational blob that the Grand Bolt was a supersized version of. But better to keep it simple.

"The Grand Bolt was a giant, ugly blob that sucked up anything in its way and destroyed it, and Von Bolt had started to send it after us. We had to fight off his army one last time before we went for it and destroyed it. We defeated Von Bolt-" he paused and swallowed, knowing it was not quite that easy, and continued "-and then I took his chair."

"Oh? What'd you do with it?"

"I took it and I started to let the energy out of his chair and back into Omega Land. Slowly plants and flowers started to grow back into the soil, and it became normal again. Then, I flew over here with the chair, and I let out all the leftover energy here to create this meadow as you see it. It used to be a big patch of dirt but I made it into a place full of flowers and grass and color." With a melancholy sigh, he finished with "It was the best thing I had ever done."

It was then it dawned on Ana. "So you don't like people picking flowers because of all the hard work you did putting them back into to Omega Land after that evil guy took them all for himself."

"Perceptive girl," he nodded.

She lit up with excitement. "You're… so… cool! You're like a real live hero! Just like Mario! And the coolest hero ever! Oh my gosh, I can't wait to tell everybody-"

"Don't do that." Hawke looked befuddled, eyebrows bunched.

"Why not?"

"Because… I'm not really a hero," he admitted.

"Whataya mean?"

"Well, before I knew what Von Bolt was doing, I used to lead his armies, back when they were attacking Cosmo Land. I used to do bad things, very bad things. I left people behind, I never truly cared for people, except for myself." He sighed again, burning from the pain of bad memories. "I'm certainly not that good of a person."

Ana looked at him quizzically, not saying anything. She and Hawke held that stare for an awkward minute before she looked over at the fields and said "Well, the flowers forgive you."

Hawke was absolutely floored at this statement. His jaw somewhat dropped at the six year old's words. He couldn't say a word, he just blinked as his jaw started to close.

It was then Ana remembered. "Oh my gosh, I have to get home! Kat's going to be so upset if she finds out I'm here. I'll see you tomorrow Mister Hawke!"

"Ana-" he started to say, but she was already dashing up to the top of the tree, and then jumping from branch to branch until she was out of sight.

Hawke sat there in amazement. Her words echoed in his head, like an epiphany he should have had. The flowers forgive me? Was it possible that even the things he had done could be atoned for? Or had they already been?

A/N Time

Well, here's chapter two of Iris! I'm really loving how this is turning out! I think I'll go ahead and address the reviewers of last chapter now!

RedLink-Good point! For those of you who still haven't caught it, the main characters are Anti-Hero Commander Hawke of Advance Wars and Ana of ninja twins Kat and Ana from Warioware. Kat and Ana are an assist trophy of Super Smash Brothers (meeting Souldin's requirements of his contest on Fanfiction) and even Hawke, who I'd have probably used anyways, is a sticker in Smash Bros.

Kevin-Thanks for the Internets, but how many internets does a real review cost? :3 Seriously, though, glad you like it.

Myst-Thanks a milli for letting me be your first review subject, and thanks for the insight. Glad to know I'm doing things right. For the record- if Ana doesn't seem very six-year-oldish, that's her character- she's shy, thoughtful, and loves flowers (although she opens up to Hawke rather easily for reasons you'll find out if you stick around), while Kat is bossy, outgoing and loves animals. [sic] Thanks a million!

Also, as a side note (at least to you guys), this chapter's dedicated to Foxpilot of Fanfiction.net, the only dude to review any work of mine in the last near month.

Anyways, I should have this fic wrapped up by the middle of May. I need to check the length again, but I'm sure I'll squeeze it all in. The third and fourth chapters are going to be somewhat meaty, and the fifth and epilogue. I'm pretty sure this is within the boundaries or whatnot, otherwise I wouldn't have planned it this way.

Well, cheers to all of the readers, fellow entrants, and of course Foxpilot, and keep reading, writing, and reviewing. :3

Till next time,

MoD

[MessengerOfDreams]

A/N on MASSIVE IMPORTANCE- This story is getting a cosmetic makeover- I decided to change the name because I didn't really think Iris fit what the story was about. The story is now known as Paradigms. A Paradigm is, simply, a viewpoint. A Paradigm Shift is the term for when someone changes the way they look at things, and I think that summarizes what is going on. However, Paradigm Shift… yeah, not so roll-of-the-tongue, is it? So I unite the two Paradigms of Hawke and Ana in the title.

Feedback on the name? Also, will be changing the chapter names as well. And will add a definition on Paradigm at the beginning.

Chapter 3-In Which Hawke Sorts Out His Own Paradigm A Tad

"Aha ha ha...everything is going just as planned. The black obelisk is steadily drinking all of Omega Land's energy. You may rest comfortably, Lord Von Bolt."

"Mmmm..."

Hawke knew for a fact that he wasn't supposed to be there. Which was precisely why he was there. That candlestick-haired broad had a scheme; his instincts wouldn't let him forget that.

Hiding behind the pillar in the hidden underground chamber, he watched as the woman with tall red hair, Kindle, continued to talk to the figure in the chair, whom Hawke could barely make out but knew to be Von Bolt.

"One other thing, my lord. As we are on schedule, perhaps the time has come to deal with those two. It would be best to dispose of them before they stumble upon our plan," she continued, casually condemning them to death. Hawke stifled a gasp, which was unwarranted because he knew who she meant from the get-go. He and Lash were in danger, and needed to leave before things could get dangerous.

"Wait... In the...hhhhh...shadows...behind the pillar... Who... hhhh...lurks there?"

Damn. Too late.

"What? Who's there?" Kindle demanded to know.

Betraying no emotion, he walked out silently, giving her a dangerous glare.

She gave a dramatic, bored sigh and unenthusiastically announced to no one in particular "Look at what the wind's blown in, a nosy little bird named Hawke." Wagging her finger and shaking her head, she threw in "I must tell you I disapprove of sneaky eavesdroppers. Didn't your parents teach you any manners?"

Ignoring her taunts, he faced the shadowed figure he couldn't see before; a withered old man in a black robe. That was uninteresting in itself; what gave him an admitted surprise was his chair- there was a blue, pulsating orb on the bottom. The man wore a helmet, which was connected by wires to the chair, with a large canopy on top above his head. The most notable feature of this chair is that it floated. All in all, an impressive piece of furniture.

"You must be Von Bolt. We've never met, but I've heard plenty about you."

"...Hhhhh..." was all he got as a response. Hawke took at as a floor to continue.

"You began as nothing more than an elderly CO from the countryside, but after Sturm died you suddenly rose up and filled the vacuum of power. Where your resources and strength come from remains a complete mystery. You've been alive for an absurdly long time, and you're never seen in public." He held a hand out and nodded. "It's an honor to meet you."

With a wheezy chuckle, Von Bolt shook his head. "So...hh...you've seen me. Hh... That means...hh...you must die..."

It took every ounce of his energy to keep Hawke from rolling his eyes; as if he hadn't heard that threat before. "I did not come here to listen to idle threats. I will have answers from you, Von Bolt," he demanded. "What are you scheming? What do you possibly hope to gain by leeching life force from the land?"

This time Kindle stepped in, pushing Hawke back nonchalantly with a slight palm on his chest. Still feigning pleasantries, she grinned devilishly as she closed the matter. "Haven't we already covered this, love? The answer is not for your ears."

Hawke grabbed her hand and threw it off of his chest, and then pushed her back away from him, hard enough that she fell on her bottom on the ground. Disgraced, she got up and dusted off her dress madly, but regained her false treacle before addressing him again.

This may be a bit premature, but... I think it's time for you and your little kitty-cat friend to disappear," she lilted, giggling as Hawke's fist clenched at the mention of his partner. She knew she had struck a chord. Fake two-faced powder-stuffing little-

" Come to me, my precious oozium!" she cooed, facing away from him. Hawke looked on with horror as three blobs about as tall as a medium tank started to make for him. Oozium- the worst thing man could have thought of; and it was Lash who did. Had she known they would be used for the purpose of destroying everything they touch as if they were an outlandish Midas, she wouldn't have been so eager.

Still toying with him, she gave him her biggest, fakest grin and announced to the blobs "Awww... Don't be shy. I've got a nice chewy snack for you!"

Hawke looked on in horror as three more blobs appeared behind the original three, then three more, and then three more. "What?" he cried in unabashed shock. "So many... No!"

He started to dash outside of the chamber. Kindle lost it at this point, she fell to her knees (out of the oozium's path) and laughed loudly, as if she was watching a circus act. "Aha ha ha! Fly away, little bird!" she cackled. "My oozium will be right behind you! After him, my darlings! Find him and feast on his flesh!" She dissolved into fits of maniacal laughter as Hawke left the room.

He slammed the trapdoor below him as he ended up outside, and surveyed his surroundings as he made his way from the door. It was a near empty wasteland plain, but the HQ was but a mile's run. He started to sprint across the plains, not even bothering to look as he heard the door bust off its hinges and the oozium started to follow.

By the time he made it closer to camp, he had gotten a fair distance ahead of them; not as if they were going to stop. He thought it safe to stop and think of what to do when he heard her.

"Rock bottom's where we live!" she belted in a sandy voice cheerfully to the music playing from a nearby rocket truck, which was attached to an Automated Personel Carrier. "And still we dig our trenches! To bury ourselves in- blargh, I forgot the rest, erm... Yadda yadda anger!" She reduced to humming with a giggle as Hawke came closer to the truck. She was not in it, though.

She was underneath it, on the ground, undoubtedly tinkering with something. Her knee-high black boots stuck out from a distance, and right now Hawke was pulling Lash out by them.

"Whoa, what gives- oh, what's up, birdbrain?" she smiled with relief as she saw him, but then shifted to confusion as she looked at his tense demeanor. "You're looking way stressed."

"Lash. We're leaving. Now." He said forcefully, picking her up by her cape.

Struggling to her feet, she was ready to argue that point. "Leaving? What?" When she looked behind him to the sight ahead; the dozen of black blobs gaining on them as they spoke. "Oh my gosh! What's going on?"

Hawke grabbed her cape by the collar and forcefully threw her inside the cab of the truck. "If you don't want to wind up as lunch, you'll shut up and move!" he shouted. Lash wanted to respond that now that he threw her into the cab that his order was pretty much pointless, but thought it best not to push him.

He leapt inside the truck himself and stepped on the gas. The truck revved forward, jerking the APC with it, at top speed. Lash, who hadn't even buckled up yet, shrieked loudly.

As the truck started to bump along the unpaved plains of the desert, her shrieks of terror turned to shrieks of thrill and laughter, much to Hawke's chagrin. His eyes were only focused on the path ahead, and the rear view mirror. The rock music continued to blare until Hawke, being an hour away from HQ, thought it safe to pull over and assess damages. He pressed the stop button, prompting Lash to stop her maddening laughs and start taking some breaths. "Whoo! Whoo… hoo… whew. Ah, golly, ah lord. Whew," she opened her door and collapsed onto the ground in exhaustion.

Hawke had his forehead pinched, trying to ward off a headache. "Honestly, Lash, how do you find this fun?"

Lash popped to her feet and replied somewhat woozily "What? It was fun! It was like riding a roller coaster… of death."

"We almost died there!" he growled. "We were literally being chased out of there!"

"Exactly!" Lash countered. "Chase scenes are the most fun part in the movies!" When he glared at her, she shrugged and replied with "What? Don't tell me you never liked those! I know that you've gotta be on the edge of your seat every time you see one of those; it's human nature!"

"Lash, for God's sake, grow up!" he shouted, not being able to help it.

She chuckled scantily as she opened the APC. "I'm twenty-three years old, Hawke. If I wanted to grow up, I'd have done it by now." Knowing he couldn't answer that, she started to dig around in the supplies. "Can of stew?"

He sighed in defeat. "I would like that."

"Great!" she replied, bringing two of the cans back outside. She pulled out a pocketknife and cut the lids off of the can. She handed one to Hawke and kept the other for herself, starting to pour it into her mouth noisily.

"What the hell are you doing?" he asked flatly.

"What? No spoons in there. If you have a better way, be my guest, birdbrain."

Hawke retorted by giving her a sly glance and pouring some into his cupped hand, then classily eating it out of his hand.

"Hawke, you've got to be kidding me!" she started laughing uncontrollably. "You, honest to god, literally, look like a bird! I mean, if you were trying to get me to stop calling you birdbrain, you have failed, mi compadre."

"At least I look somewhat dignified," he muttered nonchalantly.

"Pssh. Dignified is for boring people."

Hawke looked bemused. "You find me boring?"

Lash looked up, surprised. "Well, there's a response to that, but it's pretty long."

"Do elaborate. We don't seem to be busy."

"This is true," she replied. "Okay, here's the response. On one hand, you're boring as hell. You never smile, never frown. You never do anything except stand around or work. Your emotions range from indifferent to frustrated. Wait; check that- your emotions are either indifferent or frustrated. Amid all your brilliance, you're a single-minded man- you only focus on your goal and nothing else."

Hawke sat there in stunned silence; he couldn't believe how well she'd pegged him.

"Yet at the same time, you're hella interesting," she continued. "And that's because you're mysterious. No one knows you that well; and you tend to make it that way. You're quiet, monotone, but the things you do… sort of counteract that in some ways. Make you wonder. Keeps me up at night when my mind is whirring through various inventionmajiggers and ideas; when I think of you it's like someone slowed the cogs down…" she looked down, embarrassed. "And now I don't even know what I mean."

Hawke just sat there, having nothing to say.

Lash looked up, somewhat red at this point. "And, uhm… while I'm at it, thanks for pulling me out of there. I don't usually like playing the damsel in distress," she laced the last sentence with a nervous chuckle, "but don't get me wrong, I appreciate it."

"You're very welcome," Hawke replied, placing his stew down.

Lash sighed, collapsing against the truck. She looked somewhat disappointed.

Hawke got up, took their stew cans, and put them in the APC. "Looks like we must depart now. We're heading away from here."

"Where to?"

He sighed, knowing she wasn't going to like this part. "The Allied Nation's camp."

"The what? The Allied Geeks? Are you certain?"

He sighed again. "I don't like it either. But it seems we are working for the same cause now. I'll tell you about it tomorrow- would you like to get some rest in the APC?"

She yawned at the mention of it. "As long as you don't drive like earlier. And you're going to tell me about why the frickness we're going over there of all places. But, that can wait till tomorrow."

"Night, Lash," he said simply. "Oh, and before I forget? It warrants mentioning that you certainly don't strike me as a damsel in distress."

"Oh?"

"Certainly not. No damsel in distress could laugh like you do in the face of danger."

Lash giggled, deep red, and before safety instincts could stop her, she grabbed Hawke and pulled him in for a hug. "Night, Hawke," she muttered before darting inside the APC.

He stood there, somewhat flabbergasted afterward, wondering what had just happened. He settled into the cab of the truck. He certainly had not expected that from her, even if it... well, was her. She knew he despised physical contact; it took all of his strength not to break Kindle's hand earlier.

But for some reason, he didn't mind that much when she did.

--------------------------------------------------------
And then he woke up.

Hawke sighed forlornly. His dreams were few and far between, and every time he had one it was a frame-by-frame memory. His memory was just that- photographic. And this was the fifth night in a row this dream had happened. He groaned. Obviously his brain was trying to tell him something but he couldn't figure it out. That coupled with the words "The Flowers Forgive You" wouldn't stop echoing in his head.

It was 10:00am; much later than anytime Hawke would ever let himself sleep. He bolted out of bed, threw on his trench coat, having had his shirt and pants from earlier on still. Hawke was a very clean and efficient person. He put the coffee on, brushed his teeth, drank the coffee (albeit it tasted quite horrid since he still had minty aftertaste in his mouth, but it'd be enough to get him through the day) and got in his humble car. He was heading to work.

Ever since he had came to the city, he had taken a job at the Smash Mansion, as what one would call a "sticker" or a trainer. He didn't train in anything in particular, but he had worked with such smashers as Ganondorf and Meta Knight; the latter of whom reminded him particularly of himself.

The thought crossed his mind that he should make his way to the clearing today. He could use some time to meditate. Maybe Ana would be there and would have some more advice.

He stopped the car, although he was not at a light, and considered what he had just thought. "Of all of the years you've been alive, Hawke, you never thought you'd find yourself looking for advice from a six year old, would you have?" he muttered into the mirror.

Life was just getting stranger and stranger; ever since he had met that one young stranger.

A/N- Not really much to say, name change is new. There will be three more chapters. The fifth and sixth will actually be under 2,000 words, however. The next one should bear a lot of meat.

Well, give me feedback on the name and story and what you think! More will be coming soon! Also, if this chapter seems a bit filler-ish... it'll make sense later. Trust me.

Also, if I forget anything, it'll probably be edited into here. In a bit of a hurry!

MoD

-------------------------------------------------

Chapter 4-In which Ana shares her paradigm with Hawke

"Ana."

"Mister Hawke."

That was the basis of the greeting between the two as they both approached the clearing at the same time. Hawke's face wore the same indifference while Ana's was as youthfully optimistic as ever. A perfect representation of the two.

"What brings you out here?" Hawke asked, taking a seat on the log.

Ana shrugged. "I dunno, this place is just really pretty." She looked away from him when she said that, her attention span interrupted by a wandering butterfly. "Wow! It's so beautiful!" she gasped, running after it. "Come here, Miss Butterfly! I just gotta see you!"

Her efforts were in vain, however, as the creature flew out of her short reach, over her head, and out of the clearing through the trees and out of sight. Ana dropped onto the ground in the dirt by Hawke's log, folding her arms in a pout. "Darn," she muttered.

Hawke was amused by this, although he didn't let on. "Perhaps it had somewhere to be?"

That very thought instantly sparked Ana back into her normal self. Leaping up, she lilted with glee "Yeah! Wouldn't that be so cool, to be able to fly wherever you wanted, whenever you wanted? I'd love that soooooo much!"

Before Hawke knew it, she had gone zero-to-sixty. "I could fly to that Altea place and swordfight bad guys to save the world just like Mister Prince Marth! I could go to the Mushroom Kingdom and slide down the cool mountain Mario told the kids about once! I could fly against racecars as fast as I could and beat them in a race! Captain Falcon'd be all like 'What was that? Oh my gosh!' and then before he knew it I'd be flying home and telling everyone all the adventures I had!"

Her sense of adventure would probably never fail her, Hawke thought, and instantly his thoughts were drawn to a young woman screaming in excitement; a truck bumping through the desert.

"You remind me of someone I knew," his next thought was out loud and out before he could stop it.

Ana had collapsed on the ground, having worn herself out. "Really? Who?"

"Uh…" Hawke had a hand on his forehead. No going back now. "Her name was Lash. She and I worked together." He stopped, hoping the conversation would end.

He would not get his wish. "When you were fighting the evil guy over the flowers?" she asked eagerly.

He sighed, hoping she'd take a hint. "Yes, then."

"Mister Hawke, are you okay?" Ana tapped his shoulder, a look of worry on her face.

Great. He just couldn't win. He'd never understand kids. "I'm fine." He said with a sigh.

She wasn't convinced. "Mister Hawke, do you miss your home?" she asked.

His eyes bugged. By god this kid was perceptive, especially for her age. "No, actually," Hawke said solidly, but he wasn't convincing himself.

"Really?" Ana started to shift into zero-to-sixty. " 'Cause home is the best place ever! I live in Diamond City, and it's really cool! I do my ninja stuff there and I help Uncle Wario with the minigame factory!"

Hawke raised an eyebrow; he had heard of Wario through his Smashing fame. "Wario's your uncle?" He couldn't help taking a moment to compare the two. Wario, with his jagged mustache, massive girth, squashed nose and bushy eyebrows, and Ana, small for even her age, with a very small, defined nose, pencil-thin eyebrows, and… obvious lack of facial hair. Hawke couldn't believe that they were related, even if through a relative.

"Oh, he's not really my uncle," she looked at the ground, slowed back down. "He just says that we may as well be his kids, cause we get along so well. He's really nice. I don't know…" she paused. "…don't know what happened to our parents so he's almost like a dad, but we call him Uncle Wario 'cause our dad may still be out there."

Upon finishing that last line, she plopped back down to the ground, somewhat saddened, and even Hawke couldn't help but feel that last line. He wanted to say something, but comfort was nowhere near his strong suit.

Ana spoke up. "But… Wario's a lot of fun," she continued, without as much mirth as before. "He makes really cool games that he teaches us to help out with. I didn't know if we would know how but Wario said that if we could be the greatest ninjas in the world, that we could do anything. We came here to the mansion to keep him company, and then Mister Hand told us we could help everyone out by being 'Sist Trophies!"

Assist Trophy was a piece of Smash lingo that just escaped Hawke's grasp. "Remind me again what an Assist Trophy is?" he asked.

"Oh, A 'Sist Trophy is when someone gets a trophy when they're doing the fighting game and then someone comes down and helps them fight. There's Mister Hammer Bro, he throws hammers, Miss Lyn, she swordfights. Miss Lyn's such a great swordfighter! I wanna be just like her!" she stopped to giggle a bit and add "Even Uncle Wario's friend Mister Waluigi does it sometimes! He chases people around with a tennis racket! He's so funny!"

Hawke couldn't help but notice how far Ana could take a conversation in such little time. It was quite skillful.

She sighed again. "I wish people would be nice to Uncle Wario, though. He's so cool, but people are so mean to him. They call him stupid, and ugly, and retarded, and fatass. I don't even know what some of those mean."

It was usually hard to startle Hawke, but hearing her mention people calling her Uncle a retard and a fatass was definitely something that even would make his jaw drop. Somewhat bewildered, he told her "Please never let me catch you using those last two words again."

Ana's eyes bugged. "H-h-how come?" she asked, voice wavering.

Hawke tried to break the news gentler. "Because… those are very mean words… that even if someone my age were to say it wouldn't be okay. In fact, I don't think anyone should use any of those words, but especially not those two."

"Oh," was all she said, in a voice so small that Hawke could barely hear her. Hawke watched as she buried her head in her knees and heard as she started to cry, quietly shaking in her huddled ball.

Now Hawke really didn't know what to do. He could probably name a few million people better with kids than he was. He could only tap her on the shoulder awkwardly and ask "Are you okay, Ana?"

Her response was much more ferocious than he had anticipated. "No!" she shouted. "I'm not! Cause everyone's always so mean to Uncle Wario just cause he looks funny! It's not fair! He's so nice and funny and they just laugh at him and call him those very mean words! They don't even know him!" By the time she had yelled out those last words, she had exhausted her anger, and she lay out on the dirt, arms sprawled. "Mister Hawke," she asked, sighing, "Why are people so mean?"

Hawke sat down next to her, observing her glazed, defeated eyes staring at the clouds. He shrugged and replied "Ana, there are just some people in the world that are just mean. Like Von Bolt and… what was that, a Diamond Troll?"

Ana nodded. "But it's not evil bad guys calling Uncle Wario those names! It's the good guys! Mario does it the most, and Princess Zelda! Gosh, she's so annoying. She's always bossing me around and looking at me funny!"

Hawke interrupted her. "You see, the thing is, not everyone gets along with everyone. Just like you don't get along with Princess Zelda and she doesn't get along with Wario, and I don't get along with Von Bolt. There's just some people you aren't going to like. What matters is how you go about it. How do you treat Princess Zelda?"

"Well, sometimes I get annoyed when she bosses me around, but that's it," she replied.

"Then you're already being better than she is," he replied, laying down so that his head was just above Ana's and his body facing the opposite way.

"Mister Hawke, why do people not like each other?" she asked next.

"That, I don't even know," he told her, surprised that he had been going this far to help Ana. "It's just… the way it is."

"The way it is?"

"Some things no one can explain."

"That's weird."

"Indeed."

It was silent after that; leaving both of them to watch the clouds. A small storm seemed to be brewing, but it didn't seem to be anything worse than a soft shower and some thunder. The clouds were as grey and ominous as Hawke's trenchcoat, but one could say they both held something different from what it seemed like it did. And the silence reigned for another half hour, both of them simply letting their minds wander.

Suddenly, Ana jumped up and shouted "Oh my goodness, I gotta get home! It's almost dinner time!" She was getting ready to run off when she stopped and said "Mister Hawke, you should totally go to the mansion with me for dinner! I want everyone to meet you!"

Hawke stretched and straightened up into a sitting position. "What?" he asked, somewhat drowsily. "To the mansion?"

"Yeah, silly, for dinner! I'm sure they'd love to meet you!" she replied, showing no traces of a thirty minute rest.

"…are you sure? Have you even told anybody about me?" That was a question Hawke wanted to know; how weird must he look, someone almost no one knew spending this time with a six year old kid he had never met? Luckily he would be able to have Ganondorf vouch for him, at least.

"Uhm… no. I didn't."

"Well… I do some work with the smashers," Hawke told her. "They'll recognize me."

That was all Ana needed to know. "Perfect! Let's go!"

Before Hawke could say anything more, she started to run through the fields towards the path in the forest. He stood there, bewildered before he started to follow her against her better judgment.

A/N- Sigh. I really didn't mean to end this chapter here. I'm about to go through another computer transition and I wanna get this posted before I transition in order to avoid losing it like I did Strings Chapter 5. Grr. This was going to be longer, but I will have the second half of this chapter up tomorrow or sometime within the next few days; I do gotta finish this by the 2nd after all. :3

Also, since no one here gave a single real review (need you all be reminded that I'm one of the original writing forces on the site and CAME UP WITH the Story Portal to begin with) I'm going to skip to the Fanfiction reviewers: thanks again Foxpilot for another great review, and for a great conversation afterward through replies and messages! Which brings up a point; Advance Wars is a turn-by-turn strategy game with an engine very similar/inspired by Fire Emblem in its dialogue, and some of Hawke's flashbacks have dialogue straight from the game. In chapter 1, Everything up to Hawke leaving the destroyed building in Von Bolt's chair is game dialogue, and in Chapter 3 everything up to Hawke and Lash leaving in the rocket truck is game dialogue, except for a line of singing from Lash, which is from the song Give it All by Rise Against. A bit of ad lib, if you will.

Well, that's that. Enjoy, I'll rush order the next chapter (without rushing it) and get this done soon!

MoD

[Ridder]

Every chapter name has the word Paradigm in it.


It's not working.

[MessengerOfDreams]

Every chapter name has the word Paradigm in it.


It's not working.

...and that's all you have to say?

[MessengerOfDreams]

Chapter 4 out. Also a reminder for all the people who promised me a review tomorrow over the last month to, you know, actually give a ♥♥♥♥.