Smash Titans

INFESTATION

Infestation

At exactly 5:45 AM, Fox McCloud's alarm clock-which was modeled to look like the head of his best friend, Falco-went off: "Get up, doofus! Get up, doofus! Get up-"

Fox slammed the snooze button situated at the top of alarm-Falco's head, shutting him up. He yawned widely and then slowly climbed out of bed. From there, he performed a series of morning stretches to loosen the night kinks before swiftly dressing in his favorite set of combat fatigues and combing his fur straight in the mirror.

Though it was the crack of dawn, Fox had actually gotten a lot more sleep than normal-it wasn't unusual for the Smash Titans to be woken from their peaceful sleep three or more days out of the week, thanks to villains being up to their tricks in SmashVille late at night or in the wee hours of the morning.

But villains or no, he was up early today for an entirely different reason: combat practice.

"All right, Smashers!" he shouted as he marched down the hallway. He passed Sonic's room and banged hard on the door, and then gave Nana's the same treatment. "I'm up, and as usual, your lazy butts are still in bed! Let's get to it!"

After banging on everyone's doors a couple of times each, he headed downstairs to the first floor, where the kitchen was located. Most likely, the Smashers would try to squeeze in a couple more minutes of sleep, and that was fine with him-he'd just activate the security alarm if they kept him waiting, and he doubted any of them would be able to sleep through that.

But in the meantime...coffee.

The first floor was pitch black when he entered, but he managed to make his way over to the kitchen counter and locate the coffee maker. He opened the cabinet, looking for fresh grounds, and they weren't hard to find, considering they were the only speck of food to be seen in the cupboards. Fox frowned at that-someone had forgotten to go shopping again. He'd have a word with Nana when they all gathered for breakfast.

Fox turned towards the sink, intending to get some fresh water, and tripped over something. "Bwah!" The coffee mug went flying across the room...where Robin caught it with one hand.

"You all right?" she asked, setting the mug down on the counter.

"You saw nothing," Fox growled at her, popping back to his feet. "What was that I tripped over?"

Robin flicked on the light, and they both blinked in alarm.

Either Fox had been too sleepy to notice, or the darkness of the room had impaired his vision, but either way, he'd somehow missed the alarming mess that had once been the kitchen. Chips covered the table, and cereal boxes littered the floor. Silverware sparkled from where it lay scattered about on the countertops, stovetop, and condiment island. Pizza boxes were thrown haphazardly about, and their complimentary pizza slices, now cold and no doubt unfit to eat, were sticking to the oven, microwave, and even the wall. A two-liter bottle of soda lay on the floor, the source of Fox's clumsy fall.

And it didn't end there: the chaotic mess extended into the living room, where a trail of cereal led to the soda-stained couch which, unbelievably, had several chunks missing, as if something had taken a huge bite, several times over, out of the piece of furniture. The TV was still on, now playing a muted early-morning news program, and a sticky trail of soda slid down the screen.

"What the hell happened here?" Fox asked, gaping. "Did we get invaded overnight?" If they had, he sure hadn't heard it.

"I don't know," Robin said, her eyes rather wide, "but I'm pretty sure I know who to ask." She glared at the stairwell, where Nana and Red were coming down.