Chapter 3 - Reality (G&G)

As earlier stated, the loss of control to oneself due to the
embracing of darkness can lead to the worst of consequences.  Some of
the most notable tolls are taken on the victim’s personality.
 Egocentricity, for example, can blind one from being able to see simple
 solutions and possible interactions that one may foolishly think to be
above of.  It can end up creating new enemies for one to the point that
he is all alone in his own world.  It was too bad for Xavier that nobody
 was more affected by this than him.

“S-stupid Skelloetta,” Xavier muttered through chattering teeth.
 “W-why can’t she just s-stay out of my way?”  After a half hour of
attempting to dig upward through the heavy snow, the bandit finally
reached the top.  To his surprise, all the battlers were sitting right
on the edge of the island, singing carols-- well, he guessed that they
were singing, though it sounded more like sound effects from a horror
movie.  Holding back the vomit that had built up from the sight of their
 sickening merriment, Xavier turned towards the shop.  There was the
teal tail, and there was nobody standing in his way!

Wasting no time, Xavier began sprinting through the snow.  That
lasted about three seconds, because it’s impossible to sprint in snow.
 He proceeded to waddle at a moderate pace through the snow until he
finally reached the store.  While standing outside, he began to think up
 a plan.  Chubba probably wouldn’t follow him, since he was such a
well-known professional killer.  Instead, he would have to knock him out
 first.  Taking a deep breath, Xavier took hold of his hammer and
charged inside.  Letting out a furious war cry, he lept up on the teal
clubba and began bashing him with the tool.  After landing about five
blows, Xavier grabbed him by the tail and waddled furiously over to the
island’s edge.

“FINALLY! AT LONG LAST, VICTORY IS MINE!” Xavier screamed, and flung him off.  All the battlers turned and gave him an odd look.

“Looks like he’s finally gone off the deep end,” Gonzales said,
shaking his head.  Xavier looked around, confused.  Yoshi, who had
followed Xavier outside, walked up behind him.

“You seem to have something against cardboard cutouts, huh?” he
mused.  Xavier looked back off the edge, and sure enough, there was a
life-sized cutout of everyone’s least favorite host plummeting to the
ground.  “Yeah, I appreciate it, though.  He’s putting those things up
all over the place, and now I don’t have to take the heat for getting it
 out of the shop.  You’re still going to have to pay for it, though, so
this should cover it.”  With that, Yoshi took Xavier’s wallet and left,
followed by all of the battlers.  They all passed by, giving the bandit
dirty looks, until only Meloetta and Skelloetta remained.  They glared
at him for what seemed like an eternity before shaking their heads
(which, again, were their whole bodies, so they were really doing a
little shimmy) and going inside.  That’s when it really hit him--Xavier
had nobody left, and for the first time in his life, it mattered to him.

No amount of darkness could help Xavier shake this feeling of
loneliness.  Knowing he needed to do some property damage in order to
make himself feel better, he trudged into the juice shop and grabbed
Tubba’s laptop.  He let out a ferocious cry and was about to chuck it at
 the wall when, all of a sudden, something caught his eye.  A large
pop-up ad covering the entire screen had appeared, and it was quite a
peculiar one.  Xavier set down the computer and took a seat to analyze
the advertisement.  Oddly enough, it was nothing more than a large,
white square with some small text.

"Psychiatric Help - 5 cents - Go to storage room at midnight (COME ALONE)”

“Pffft, psychiatric help?” Xavier said to nobody in particular.
 “Who am I kidding?  I’m the most mentally sound guy I know!”  A few
moments later, he threw himself out the back window because a blender
was looking at him funny.

“...dishonest, stingy, inconsiderate, vain…”

“Hey, Tubba,” muttered Xavier.  He proceeded to pick himself up
and trudge back into the Glitz Pit.  Knowing that everyone went to the
red major league room, he decided to avoid the heat and head to the blue
 one.  Feeling as down as ever, he walked into the bathroom and splashed
 water on his mask, which did absolutely nothing.  Upon looking up into
the mirror, however, he noticed something that made him freeze up: the
crack in his mask.

“What have I become…” he muttered, looking deep into the soulless
 reflection of his soulless self.  How he had changed from how he used
to be…  At that moment, his attention was directed to the clock hanging
on the wall.

11:59 PM.

One minute later, Xavier found himself standing at the door of the storage room.